LIVE: Host farmers at your house like you treated Obama, Owaisi tells PM

Farmers' protest LIVE updates: 'Will return home only after the government repeals the contentious legislations', said Rakesh Tikait

1:25 AM

Centre waging war against farmers, Nadda faking love for them: TMC

The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Sunday alleged that while the BJP-led government at the Centre was "waging a war" against farmers protesting the new agriculture laws, saffron party chief J P Nadda was "faking his love" for the ploughmen.
 

Nadda cannot claim to be a friend of the farmers while his government continues to carry out atrocities against the agriculturists in Delhi, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said at a party meeting in Nabadwip in Nadia district.
 

"While they are waging a war against farmers in Delhi, putting nails at the dharna site, putting up barricades disrupting communications, the same BJP is flaunting a pro- farmer image before the elections.
 

"If you really care about farmers, you protest against such acts of the BJP government. You need not do photo sessions at the house of a farmer. Such photo sessions don't help in solving farmers' problems," he said, in an apparent jibe at Nadda.
 

7:50 PM

At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait's cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd

The demand for cutouts of Rakesh Tikait at Singhu border underlines the growing popularity of the farmer leader credited with reviving the farmers movement against the Centre's farm laws following violence during a tractor rally on Republic Day.

Roadside stalls selling badges, posters and other literature related to the farmers stir are a common sight at Singhu border.

Wasim Ali, who has set up such a stall at the protest site, says hand-held cutouts of Tikait are a big hit among the crowd.

"Each cutout of Tikait is priced at Rs 20. I have been selling the cutouts since the last few days as they are in high demand," he said.

Around 700-800 such cutouts are sold every day, said Ali, a resident of Bawana in north west Delhi.

6:08 PM

No 'ghar wapsi' till farmers' demands are met: Tikait

Asserting that the agitation against the Centre's farm laws is a people's movement that will not fail, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said there will be no "ghar wapsi" till protesting farmers' demands are met.

Tikait lauded the role of "khap panchayats" (caste councils) and their leaders in supporting the farmers' stir.

Addressing a "Kisan Mahapanchayat" near here, Tikait said the government should rollback the contentious farm laws, frame a new legislation to assure the continuation of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and release the farmers arrested recently.

"There will be no 'ghar wapsi' till farmers' demands are met," he said.

"Yeh jan andolan hai, yeh fail nahi hoga (this is a people's movement, this will not fail)," he added.

5:37 PM

Host farmers at your house like you treated Obama: Owaisi to PM

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite protesting farmers to his residence like he had hosted then US president Barack Obama, and repeal the new farm laws.

Addressing a rally for upcoming polls to local bodies in Gujarat, the Hyderabad MP also asked the prime minister to be "large-hearted" and "understand pains" of the farmers, who have been protesting at borders of Delhi over the last two months demanding scrapping of the agri marketing legislations.

"The way the farmers are being treated is not right. It is wrong. The Prime Minister should invite the farmers to his residence like he had offered tea to (then US President) Barack Obama with his own hand (in 2015), which is fine as he was our guest. We expect the PM to invite the farmers, offer them tea and biscuits and tell them the (agri marketing) laws are being repealed, and that they should be happy," Owaisi said.

4:32 PM

Govt ready to resume talks with farmers: Piyush Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the Union government was ready to resume talks with the farmers' unions if they (farmers) came out with some new proposals.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Goyal, who is part of the government team of negotiators with farmer unions along with others, said the Modi government is sensitive towards the farmers' concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the whole government was ready to resolve the issue through dialogue.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the government is a phone call away but someone has to call to talk or move ahead. If farmers have any objection to the laws then let us know and the government is willing to address it," he said.

4:08 PM

Pawar faces netizens' ire for 'advising' Sachin on farmers' issue

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar 'advising' cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar to be careful with his words on the farmers' issue, has not gone down well with social media users who expressed their anger against Pawar.

Netizens described Pawar's statement as "threatening" the batting legend.

Many social media users also targeted Pawar while sharing the achievements of Tendulkar who brought laurels to the country. Pawar on Saturday had reacted to a tweet by Tendulkar in response to US popstar Rihanna's tweet on the farmers' protests. Pawar had said, "Many people have reacted sharply to the stand taken by them (Indian celebrities). I would advise Sachin (Tendulkar) to restrain himself while speaking about any other field."

3:20 PM

Security at Singhu beefed up, farmers firm on demands

Security has been further beefed up in the last couple of days at Singhu border, however, the agitating farmers remain firm on their demands. Every protesting farmer at Singhu village gives almost the same reply, "We won't go back till the three anti-farmer laws are taken back".

Police barricades that were earlier put up at Singhu village, now have also appeared at Singhola village, which is around one-and-a-half km away from Singhu. Singhu and Singhola, these two Jat-dominated villages of northeast Delhi are located either side of the road - (Delhi-Panipat highway) which is blocked since November 26 due to the farmers' protests.

Scores of farmers from Haryana and Punjab have been protesting at Singhu against three the farm laws passed by Parliament. These three laws are - The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

2:22 PM

Farmers' protest limited to certain area: Agri minister Tomar

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said the ongoing farmers' protest against the Centre's three new farm laws is limited to a certain area, and expressed hope to break the deadlock over the issue soon.

Talking to reporters in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior city, Tomar also accused the opposition Congress of playing politics over the farmers' agitation.

"The farmers' agitation is limited to a certain area. The government is ready for talks with the protesting farmers, and I hope we will be able to break the deadlock very soon, Tomar said.

1:32 PM

LIVE: Security at Singhu beefed up, farmers firm on demands

Security has been further beefed up in the last couple of days at Singhu border, however, the agitating farmers remain firm on their demands. Every protesting farmer at Singhu village gives almost the same reply, "We won't go back till the three anti-farmer laws are taken back", PTI quoted them as saying.

 

Police barricades that were earlier put up at Singhu village, now have also appeared at Singhola village, which is around one-and-a-half km away from Singhu. Singhu and Singhola, these two Jat-dominated villages of northeast Delhi are located either side of the road - (Delhi-Panipat highway) which is blocked since November 26 due to the farmers' protests.

 

Scores of farmers from Haryana and Punjab have been protesting at Singhu against three the farm laws passed by Parliament. These three laws are - The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

1:12 PM

Haryana farmer's body found hanging from tree near Tikri border protest site

A farmer from Jind in Haryana who was supporting the agitation against the Centre's farm laws allegedly hanged himself from a tree merely two kilometres from the Tikri border protest site on Sunday, police said. The 52-year-old farmer left a suicide note, which is being verified, PTI reported.

 

"The farmer, Karamveer Singh, hailed from a village in Jind. He was found hanging from a tree in a park, which is around two kilometres away from the Tikri border," Bahadurgarh City police station SHO Vijay Kumar said. His body was found in the morning, he said.

 

According to the police, the hand-written suicide note purportedly left behind by the deceased said, "Dear farmer brethren, Modi government is giving date after date... No one knows when these black farm laws will be rolled back." Over a fortnight ago, another farmer from Haryana had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Tikri border. He died during treatment at a Delhi hospital later.

12:17 PM

Protesting farmer unions ready for talks only if farm laws are repealed

Protesting farmer unions Saturday said they are ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them. The unions, however, made it clear that they would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.

 

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border here, Samyukta Kisan Morcha's senior leader Darshan Pal said the ball is now in the government's court.

 

"We are ready to talk. The ball is in the government's court. We clearly told them that their last proposal (of suspending the farm laws for 12-18 months) was not acceptable to us. Now, they should come up with a new proposal," he told reporters. READ ON...

11:36 AM

Farmers' protest LIVE: Heavy security deployment continues at Tikri border

Heavy security deployment continued at the Tikri border (Delhi-Haryana border) on Sunday morning as farmers' protest against three agriculture laws enters the 74th day. Police officers were seen standing in huge numbers near the barricades placed near the Tikri border a day after the "chakka jam" call given by the farmer unions who were protesting against the farm laws for over two months at the national capital's border.

 

"The government should consider the fact that protesting farmers are dying and these laws should be repealed so that we can go back home. We have been protesting for nearly three months and till these laws are not withdrawn we'll keep protesting here peacefully," said Chanranjeet Singh, a farmer from Punjab.

 

Speaking to ANI, Kuldeep Singh Danda, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said, "Farmers held chakka jam very peacefully. We just want to tell the government that a lot of people are standing with us and supporting our cause while we are protesting. I would like to appeal to the farmers to stay firm and we will win."

11:10 AM

Govt shouldn't have 'asked' big personalities like Sachin, Lata to tweet on farmers' issue: Raj Thackeray

In the wake of comments by celebrities on the ongoing farmers' protest, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said that the government should not have "asked" big personalities like former batsman Sachin Tendulkar and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar to tweet in their support on the issue and put their "reputation" at stake, PTI reported.

 

The MNS chief said that the agitation is against the government policies and not concerning issues of national interest.

 

"The government should not have asked big personalities like Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar to tweet in support of its stand and put their reputation at stake. They are recipients of Bharat Ratna. Actors like Akshay Kumar were enough for this task," said Thackeray. "This issue was about the policies of the government and not of the country. It was not a matter related to China or Pakistan. It was a matter of farmers. The Bharat Ratna recipients tweeted on behalf of the government and now they are being trolled," he said.

10:36 AM

Heavy security deployment continues at Tikri border (Delhi-Haryana border)

10:26 AM

From borders to courts, lawyers huddle for protesting farmers

As agitating farmers face grave legal challenges emerging out of the Republic Day violence, scores of lawyers from the adjoining states have stationed themselves at the borders, courts and jails of the national capital to offer free legal assistance to them, reported PTI on Sunday.

 

On January 26, protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor rally against three farm laws. During the clash, a section of protesters had entered the Red Fort and hoisted a religious flag. So far, the police have arrested over 120 people in connection with the Republic Day violence.