Will BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy manage to resolve the deadlock between the Centre and the thousands of farmers protesting against three contentious farm laws at Delhi's borders for more than two months now? He certainly has a few ideas, which he has put out.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, the parliamentarian said that he had had an "informal chat" with around a dozen BJP MPs about the ongoing protest. "I suggested that the Rules to the four Acts should say that the Acts will apply only to those States which write to Centre asking for its implementation for their states. All MPs agreed," he tweeted.
It is, however, not clear at this time whether the Centre is willing to consider the same. The names of the MPs who spoke to Swamy have also not been divulged.
This is not the first time Swamy has urged the BJP to react in a different manner to the ongoing protest.
In the wake of the violent clashes that took place in Delhi amid the farmers' Republic Day tractor rally, he had urged his party to "please wake up." As he put it in a series of strongly worded tweets, the respect for Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's "tough guys image" had been lost.
"Respect of two groups of stakeholders in agricultural trade have been lost so far in the farmers agitation: A.The Punjab Congress/Akali politicians & their middlemen. B. The Modi/ Shah "tough guys" image. Gainers are Naxals, Drug lords, ISI & Khalistanis. BJP please wake up! (sic)" Swamy had tweeted on 27 January.
Towards the end of 2020, the Centre had brought in three contentious farm bills. Passed in Parliament amid massive protests, the laws have since evoked an outcry from farmers across the country. Over a dozen rounds of talks with the Centre have failed to resolve the deadlock, and more than two months later, thousands of farmers continue to camp outside Delhi's borders.
At present, there does not seem to be a resolution in sight. The farmers remain insistent that the laws be repealed. And while the government has offered to put the laws on hold for up to 18 months and make amendments, this does not seem to be something the Centre is willing to do.
