PM Modi to talk to Punjab BJP leaders acting as intermediaries between Centre & farmers

Marking a first, sources report that PM Modi will meet BJP Punjab leaders - Harjeet Singh Grewal and Surjeet Kumar Jyani on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing the standoff between Centre and farmers. Grewal and Jyani are reportedly acting as intermediaries between the farmers and Centre as protests continue for over 40 days. Moreover, Jiyani is a part of the eight-member committee formed by the Govt to negotiate for the talks. After eight rounds of talks between Centre and farmers, no breakthrough has achieved as farmers demand a total repeal of the Farm Laws, which has been refused by the Centre.

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8th round of Centre-Farmer talks

On Monday, farmers and Centre held their eighth round of talks which ended in an impasse with farm leaders stating that they wanted a complete repeal of the three laws and were not interested in any of the amendments that the Centre had to offer. Revealing that the Government had pitched for a clause-to-clause discussion, farmer leaders stated that they rejected the Centre's proposition since their one-point demand was a repeal of the laws. The next round of talks has been fixed on January 8.

"There will be talks again. Today we discussed the three bills, then on two issues- MSP and repealing of the three laws. We are going nowhere. Kannon wapasi nahi toh ghar wapasi nahi (Till the time bills are repealed, we will not go home.) We told them this clearly. The quicker they take the bills back, the better it will be for them," said Bhartiya Kisan Union's (BKU) Rakesh Tikait. Centre has already agreed to keep farmers out of the ambit of the penalty for stubble burning and has also conceded to the demand of not going ahead with the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.

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Farmer protests continue

If the Centre does not budge, farmers have decided to celebrate the festival of Lohri on January 13 by burning copies of the newly introduced agriculture laws and a massive tractor rally on January 26 towards Delhi. Moreover, Centre and state government have warned farmers of strict action after 1500 telecom towers were damaged by certain farmers - in a protest against industrialists. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has moved Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking stopping of vandalism of its assets during protests.  The farmers have stayed firm on their demand of total repeal of the Farm acts, stating a 'lack of trust' on the Modi government. The farm union leaders were sent a 10-point proposal by the Centre assuring to give written guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP), empowering states to create a law which will prevent misuse of traders' registration, continuing current electricity bill payment done by the government and amend the stubble burning penalty clause.

Farmers adamant on repeal of farm laws, protest to continue post 8th round of talks

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