The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading protests by over 40 farmers' unions on Delhi borders, has convened a meeting today to discuss the future of the movement amid feelers sent by the Centre with an offer to put on hold the three controversial farm laws enacted in September last year up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting will discuss the demands that the farmers should put forward to strike a deal. These include enactment of an Ordinance to be turned into an Act in the forthcoming Parliament session for mandatory Minimum Support Price (MSP) of the selected crops.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait is opposed to the government's offer to defer the three farm laws as he insists that they should be rolled back, as he said it would be difficult to mobilise the farmers once again if the sword of these laws is kept hanging on their head.
Meanwhile, a meeting of 32 farmers' association in Punjab was held at the Singhu border on Monday to discuss the stand they should take at Tuesday's meeting of the SKM. The farmers' movement is the strongest in Punjab where their flags are flying on almost every home and shops, with the possibility of it swaying the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The government is, however, concerned over the negative impact of the protests in western Uttar Pradesh as it wants the movement defused at the earliest to minimise its effect in the simultaneous assembly elections in the state. The BJP leaders, however, claim the movement is limited to only a part of Uttar Pradesh and so it won't prevent the BJP returning to power in the elections.
