LIVE: Listen to our 'Mann ki Baat' too, protesting farmers tell PM Modi

Farmers Protest LIVE updates: Unions say they would join talks but want the government to provide legal guarantee for procurement of crops at the Minimum Support Price.

Farmers' Protest LIVE updates: Leaders of farmers’ unions have agreed to meet ministers on Tuesday, possibly paving the way for a seventh round of talks with the government which has so far failed to mollify protesters who say three new agricultural laws threaten their livelihoods.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday invited protest leaders to talks "based on facts and logic" as he accused Opposition parties “pushing a political agenda” by spreading lies about the laws. "My dear farmers, please hear me clearly, you can sell your produce where you get the correct price. If you want to sell it at minimum support price, please do. You want to sell it to mandi, other states, to industries please do. No mandi will be closed; MSP will stay. Do not listen to the rumours," he had said, referring to agricultural markets and the government's support price for farmers.

Farmers on Saturday said they would join talks but want a government to give them a plan providing legal guarantee for procurement of crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

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Stay tuned for Farmers' Protest LIVE updates

1:16 AM

Punjab CM, SAD attack BJP for calling agitating farmers 'urban Naxals'

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched a scathing attack on the BJP on Sunday over the malicious and derogatory terms allegedly used by its senior leaders against protesting farmers.
 

Singh asked the saffron party to stop maligning the farmers and their genuine fight for justice by using offensive terms such as "urban Naxals, Khalistanis, hooligans" etc.
 

"If the BJP cannot distinguish between anguished citizens fighting for their survival and terrorists, militants and hooligans, it should give up all pretence of being a people's party.
 

"A party which treats citizens exercising their democratic right to protest as Naxals and terrorists has lost all right to rule over those citizens," the chief minister said in a statement here.
 

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly terming Punjab's farmers as "urban Naxals".
 

Singh hit out at BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh over his alleged description of Punjab's farmers as "urban Naxals".
 

He said with these remarks, the BJP leadership has hit a new low in its desperation to promote its political agenda.
 

The Congress leader pointed out that the protests by farmers, who have been demanding the repeal of the Centre's new farm laws, are taking place not just in Punjab, but also in BJP-ruled Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
 

"Do the farmers protesting at all these places look like Naxals to you? And does that mean law and order has collapsed everywhere?" he asked Chugh.
 

11:03 PM

Telangana farmers to get financial assistance under 'Rythu Bandhu' scheme

Over Rs 7,500 crore would be disbursed to 61.49 lakh farmers in the state Telangana under the TRS government's 'Rythu Bandhu' financial assistance scheme from Monday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao said.
 

A sum of Rs 7,515 crore would be given to 1.52 crore acres of cultivated lands of 61.49 lakh farmers at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre for the 2020 summer season, he announced after a review meeting on the scheme.
 

Rao instructed the officials concerned to ensure that every farmer gets the assistance in his bank account directly for each acre, a release from his office said.
 

At the meeting, officials said farmers can sell their crop anywhere under the new farm laws and the state government need not set up purchase centres in villages.
 

They also noted the government incurred losses because it bought the produce by paying minimum support price (MSP) but sold at lower rates in markets due to lack of demand.

9:45 PM

Shelve pollution ordinance & power bill before farm talks: Cong MPs to govt

Two Congress MPs from Punjab on Sunday said the Centre should withdraw the recent stubble burning ordinance and the Electricity Amendment Bill before its next round of talks with protesting farmer unions so that the dialogue to end the stalemate over three agri-marketing laws can progress smoothly.

 

The government must earn trust of the protesting farmers, said parliamentarians Ravneet Singh Bittu and Jasbir Singh Gill who have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar here for three weeks now in solidarity with the ongoing agitation.

 

Farmer groups protesting against the Centre's three farm laws have proposed a meeting with the government at 11 am on December 29. Previously, several rounds of talks between the farmer unions and the government have failed to break the deadlock.

 

Besides demanding the repeal of the three farm laws, the agitating farmers want the government to withdraw the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 and to shelve the Electricity Amendment Bill. Read more
 

9:42 PM

Farmers' stir: Protesters beat 'thali' during PM's address, feed birds in Noida

The farmers protesting in Noida against the new farm laws beat "thali" (metal plates) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio broadcast "Mann Ki Baat" on Sunday, while scores of them also fed birds as they took out a foot march in the city.
 

Bharatiya Kisan Union's (BKU) Bhanu and Lok Shakti factions, with supporters hailing from various western Uttar Pradesh districts, are protesting at separate sites here since the first week of December, demanding that the three farm laws be repealed and a guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) on crops.
 

At the Chilla border, scores of BKU (Bhanu) members beat utensils and raised slogans hailing the farmers during the prime minister's "Mann ki Baat" to express their dissatisfaction with the government over the impasse on the new laws.
 

Yogesh Pratap Singh, the Uttar Pradesh unit chief of the BKU (Bhanu), reiterated that his union "will not leave the ground" until the demands of the farmers are met by the Centre.
 

Separately, around 200 members of the BKU (Lok Shakti) took out a foot march from the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Sector 95 to Sector 27 and fed birds en route.
 

"The farmers were carrying mixed seeds in their bags to feed the birds. This was our way of telling the government that we are firm in our resolve but also peaceful and Gandhian in our approach," BKU (Lok Shakti) spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri said.

 

7:37 PM

I appeal to Centre with folded hands to repeal farm laws: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday appealed to the Centre to repeal the new farm laws and said farmers are protesting for their survival.

In his second visit to the Singhu border, where thousands of farmers are protesting against the laws since November last week, Kejriwal said, "I challenge any Union minister to have an open debate with the farmers and it will be clear how beneficial or harmful these laws are."

Kejriwal, who had first visited Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border on December 7, was accompanied by his deputy Manish Sisodia.

"Farmers are protesting for their survival. These laws will snatch away their land. I appeal with folded hands to the Centre to please repeal the three agri laws," he said.

6:59 PM

Listen to our 'Mann ki Baat' too, farmers tell PM Modi

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing the people of the country on Sunday through his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', the protesting farmers opposed it by beating 'thalis' (plates) and clapping their hands.

Haryana farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni appealed to the Prime Minister to listen to the "Mann ki Baat" of farmers and voices of other people as well. Gurnam Singh is the Haryana state President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and is one of the prominent leaders leading the farmer agitation.

Opposing the 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme by beating a 'thali' at the Makdoli toll plaza in the Rohtak district of Haryana, Chaduni while addressing Modi said, "We are not convinced by your 'Mann ki Baat' address. You speak your mind but do not listen to other people's voices."

5:51 PM

Dec 29 talks will resolve issues only if done with farmers perspective without politicising: MoS Agriculture

Minister of State (MoS) Agriculture Kailash Choudhary has said that talks scheduled on December 29 will resolve issues if they are conducted from farmers' perspective, and not from the perspective of politicians who are politicising the issue.

 

Speaking to ANI, when asked about farmers' protest, Choudhary said, "Problems can only be resolved by talking. I firmly believe talks scheduled on December 29 will resolve issues if they are conducted from farmers' perspective, not from perspective of politicians who are politicising the issue."

 

"The politicians are using farmers to further their own agenda. There are leftist elements and Congress who are trying to put hurdles on the resolution of the issue," he said.

5:20 PM

Lawyer from Punjab commits suicide near farmers' protest site

A lawyer from Punjab allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison on Sunday a few kilometres from the site of a farmers' protest at Tikri border.

Amarjit Singh from Jalalabad in Punjab's Fazilka district was taken to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak where doctors declared him dead on arrival, police said.

In a purported suicide note, Singh said he was sacrificing his life in support of the farmers' agitation against the Centre's new farm laws so that the government is compelled to listen to the voice of the people.

Singh wrote that the common people like farmers and labourers are feeling "defrauded" due to the three "black" agriculture laws and "the worst life is inevitable".

 

3:34 PM

Attempts to mislead farmers will not succeed: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday said that attempts to "mislead" farmers on the recent agriculture laws will not succeed.

 

Addressing a state-level function to mark the third anniversary of the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in Himachal Pradesh, he said the new laws will raise the income of farmers, but the Congress was misleading them.

 

Whenever a reform is effected it takes a few years before it starts showing positive results, Singh said in his virtual address.

2:22 PM

Truckload of pineapples free of cost for agitating farmers

Expressing solidarity with farmers agitating at the borders of Delhi against the new farm laws, a farmers association in Kerala has sent 16 tonnes of pineapples by truck to the national capital for free distribution.
 

The cost of the fruit, as well as the expenditure on transport, will be borne by the Pineapple Farmers Association, its leader James Thottumaryil said here on Sunday.
 

The consignment from Vazhakulam, known as “pineapple city,” was flagged off by Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar on Thursday night.

 

 

1:07 PM

Farmers continue protests at Rajasthan-Haryana border, reports ANI

7:42 AM

Unions plan 'thali bajao' protest during PM's speech

Unions plan to bang utensils to "wash out" Prime Minister Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' radio speech, reported News18.com quoting Jagjit Singh Dalewala, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union. The "thali bajao" protest will mimic Modi’s appeal earlier this year for honouring frontline coronavirus workers, said Dalewala.

7:34 AM

'Agitations may hurt India's image', says Kumaraswamy

H D Kumaraswamy, leader of Janata Dal (Secular) party, says farmers should have an open mind about the new laws. "The farmers agitations have created an impression that some trouble is brewing in India. It is my sincere wish that the reputation earned by India at the international level and its image should not be dented by the new farm legislations as well as the protests against them," said the former Karnataka chief minister on Twitter Saturday.

12:11 AM

Kerala Assembly session likely to be held on Dec 31 to discuss farm laws

Decks appear to have been cleared for the one-day session of the Kerala assembly on December 31 to discuss and pass a resolution against the three contentious farm laws of the Centre against which farmers are protesting in Delhi. Raj Bhavan sources said the clarification sought by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has been given by the government and Khan could give his assent for the session by Monday.

 

The governor had earlier turned down the plea of the LDF government to convene a special session on December 23 to discuss the new laws, saying Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had not addressed the question raised by him on the nature of emergency warranating the very brief session.

 

In a letter to Vijayan, he had also stated that the government wanted the special session to "discuss a problem for which you have no jurisdiction to offer any solution".

 

11:51 PM

Agitating farmers from western UP stay put in Noida at night

Braving biting cold, scores of farmers stayed put at the Delhi-Noida border near Chilla on Saturday night in protest against the three recent farm laws of the Centre even as other agitating farmers returned home for night stay. During the day, farmers' groups from various Western Uttar Pradesh districts visit the border, join demonstrations and then return by evening, leaving local protestors and those from nearby districts at the site for an overnight stay, said Yogesh Pratap Singh, the UP unit chief of the BKU (Bhanu).

 

Around 50 BKU (Bhanu) members, some of them belonging to Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad, were at Chilla border on Saturday night, while 11 members observed fast during the day.

 

Eleven protestors observe fast during the day till 5 pm. It has been about a week since this hunger strike was started to protest against the government's decision, said Singh. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) members are camping at the Chilla border since December 1 while those belonging to the BKU (Lok Shakti) have been staying put at the nearby Dalit Prerna Sthal.