Five Trinamool Congress MPs on Wednesday met protesting farmers sitting on relay hunger strike at Singhu border near Delhi. A 5-member delegation comprising Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Pratima Mondal and Md Nadimul Haque met and interacted with farmers at the Singhu Border to show solidarity.
TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banrejee also spoke to protesting farmers over the phone and assured them of her full support. Some farmers also requested her to visit the dharna site, the TMC said in a statement.
Speaking to Mamata, farmers repeated their demand that the Centre must repeal the farmer bills.
TMC said it is unfortunate that farmers, who feed the entire country are being forced to go hungry.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.
Protesting farmer unions urged people on Wednesday to skip one meal on 'Kisan Diwas', the birth anniversary of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, in support of their stir.
Several farmers visited 'Kisan Ghat' here on Wednesday morning to pay tributes to Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was known for his farmer-friendly policies.
"Several farmers arrived here at Kisan Ghat to pay their tribute on the occasion of Kisan Diwas. They are paying tributes and leaving soon after," a police officer said.
To mark Kisan Diwas, protesting farmers at Ghazipur border held a 'havan'.
A meeting of farmer leaders from across India would be held on Wednesday where a decision on the government's talks offer will be taken.
In a letter to 40 union leaders, the Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, Vivek Aggarwal, had on Sunday asked protesting farmer leaders to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest.
Agriculture Minister Tomar said on Tuesday he is hopeful that protesting unions would soon complete their internal discussions and resume talks with the government to resolve the crisis.
The farmer leaders will also observe "Shaheedi diwas" from December 23-26.
