Farmers' protest: Haryana BJP MPs, MLAs meet Tomar

A delegation of Hayana BJP MPs and MLAs met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday and supported the three new farm laws, against which thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of the national capital for over two weeks.

A delegation of Hayana BJP MPs and MLAs met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday and supported the three new farm laws, against which thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of the national capital for over two weeks. Union Minister of State for Water Resources Ratanlal Kataria, Lok Sabha MPs Dharamveer Singh and Nayab Singh Saini and Rajya Sabha MP DP Vats and some MLAs were present in the meeting.

After the meeting, Rohtak BJP MP Arvind Sharma said the state MPs and MLAs came to thank the central government for agreeing to amend certain provisions of the farm laws. Another issue was also raised pertaining to Sutley Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water which Punjab is holding from its side for many years, he added.

''Haryana farmers have very well understood new farm laws. Our party colleagues and some NGOs have created awareness about benefits of the laws in the state. Now many farmers have begun to understand. Many farmers' groups from state are meeting Union Agriculture Minister and extending their support to the laws,'' Sharma claimed. On objections raised by farmers, the Centre has already held several rounds of discussion and is ready for amendments and give a written assurance on MSP, he added.

Asked whether Tomar gave any indication when the deadlock will be resolved, he said, ''We hope the meeting will be called early. Very soon some solution will be found.'' Haryana Kisan Morcha President Samay Singh Bhati, who was also present in the meeting, said, ''We appealed the minister not to repeal the laws. We don't have any issue if the Centre wants to amend some provisions.'' ''The other issue which we raised was long-pending SYL canal issue. The Supreme Court has given an order in favour of Haryana but no work has begun yet. ''We have said this issue should also be resolved along with the existing ones. There are some districts in the state that don't even have drinking water. If the canal issue is resolved, these districts will benefit,'' Bhati said.

Claiming that Haryana farmers are in support of the laws, Bhati said these laws will cause no harm to any farmers and should not be repealed. The meeting follows talks between Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Tomar on Saturday, after which the state leader had hoped that the talks between the Centre and the protesting farmer unions would resume soon to break the deadlock.

After meeting Tomar here, Chautala had said the crop procurement at the government-decided MSP (minimum support price) would be ensured for each farmer till the time he was part of the state government. Chautala had also met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Food, Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, before meeting Tomar and had asserted that the Haryana government was stable as of now.

Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader has been facing pressure from the opposition and some Haryana farmers to withdraw from the BJP-led government in the state. He had earlier said he will resign if the MSP system is threatened. Farmer unions, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, say that the new laws will lead to the dismantling of the MSP system under which government agencies buy their crop at an assured price. Their protest on various borders of the national capital has entered its third week.

In its proposal to farmers on Wednesday last week, the Centre had said it will give a written assurance that the MSP system will remain and also redress their other key concerns. The unions, however, are demanding complete rollback of the central laws and have threatened to intensify their agitation..