Govt ready to talk with farmers on 3 laws after unions' response on its offer: Tomar
New Delhi: The government is ready to resume talks with protesting farmers if they respond to its offer to put the three contentious farm laws on hold for one-and-a-half year and work out the difference during that time through a joint committee, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said Wednesday.
The government and unions representing farmers, who have been camping at Delhi's border for about three months in protest against the three laws that they see will end state procurement of crops at MSP, have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22. Talks broke after widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event here, Tomar said the government is committed towards the interest of farmers and agriculture, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is making efforts to double farmers' income and strengthen the Indian agriculture sector.
The minister was replying to a query on Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait threatening to march to the Parliament on 40 lakh tractors if laws are not repealed.
Whether the government is making any effort to resume talks with unions, Tomar said, "Bharat sarkar kisano se puri samvedana ke saath charcha karti rahi hai. Aaj bhi jab unka koi mat aayega, toh Bharat sarkar hamesha kisano ke saath charcha karne ko taiyaar hai (The government has been holding discussions with farmers sympathetically. Even today, whenever their response comes, the government is always ready to hold talks)."
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, is protesting at Delhi borders for around three months, seeking repeal of three new laws and a legal guarantee of the MSP.
In the 11th round of talks held on January 22, the government's negotiations with 41 farmer groups hit a roadblock as the unions squarely rejected the Centre's proposal to put three contentious laws on hold and form joint committee to find solutions.
During the 10th round of talks held on January 20, the Centre had offered to suspend the laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find solutions, in return for protesting farmers going back to their respective homes from Delhi borders.
Farmer groups have alleged that these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.
On January 11, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse. Bhartiya Kisan Union President Bhupinder Singh Mann had recused himself from the committee appointed by the apex court.
Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra) President Anil Ghanwat and agriculture economists Pramod Kumar Joshi and Ashok Gulati, the other three members on the panel, have started the consultation process with stakeholders.
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Sandeshkhali video vindicates stand: TMC; BJP claims footage doctored
Kolkata, May 4: Trinamool Congress leader Abhisekh Banerjee on Saturday accused the BJP of orchestrating the Sandeshkhali episode and claimed a video vindicated the TMC’s stand that the saffron party was behind the incidents.
Allegations of sexual abuse and land grab against TMC leaders have surfaced in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district.
“I never thought the politics of Bengal would stoop so low to get votes… We have been saying from day one that a shameless attempt was made to malign Bengal ahead of the elections,” Banerjee told a press conference here.
The TMC earlier in the day released a video on social media, in which a man, claimed to be Gangadhar Kayl who is a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly "Suvendu Adhikari is behind the whole conspiracy".
PTI did not verify the authenticity of the video posted by the TMC.
While Adhikari said the video is doctored, Kayl lodged a complaint to the CBI alleging that it was a morphed and edited video.
In the press conference, Banerjee who is considered number two in the TMC, alleged that for creating grounds for imposition of Article 355 in Bengal, he orchestrated the entire incident in Sandeshkhali.
Banerjee asserted that the honour of Bengali women were compromised by such allegations in Sandeshkhali, which he believes are aimed at maligning the state.
He demanded that the BJP top leadership apologize for “maligning” Bengal about Sandeshkhali within 48 hours.
The TMC national general secretary also wondered what Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had mentioned Sandeshkhali incidents several times during his election rallies will say now.
Responding to the TMC’s allegations, Adhikari said, “It is a fake and doctored video. It seems that the TMC sensed defeat (in the election) and is trying to divert attention. There have been hundreds of complaints by women of Sandeshkhali."
In his written complaint to the CBI, Kayl said, the video in question was uploaded from an unverified YouTube channel owned by someone named ‘Williams’.
“It can be seen that the same (footage) has been made using my face and the voice has been moduled using Artificial Intelligence (AI) so that it can mislead the public at large,” the BJP mandal president said.
In his complaint, Kayl also provided the link to the YouTube video.
