Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday joined his party colleagues from Punjab in raising the farmers' demand and seeking Parliament's winter session.
Congress MPs from Punjab have been on protest at Jantar Mantar demanding that a Parliament session be called to repeal farm laws that have triggered protests by farmers. On Sunday, two MPs - Gurjeet Aujla and Jasbir Gill - were sitting at Jantar Mantar along with some party leaders.
"My friends here are asking the Centre to settle the matter with the farmers' unions and also to have winter session which should have been held by 3rd week of Nov," Tharoor, joining MPs from Punjab at the protest site, said.
"Joined my Parliament colleagues @JasbirGillKSMP & @GurjeetSAujla in their dharna to support the farmers’ protests & demand a WinterSession of Parliament to discuss the issue. GoI’s stubborn refusal to consult stakeholders before taking decisions is self-defeating," Tharoor said in a tweet.
On Monday this week, parliamentarians Preneet Kaur, Manish Tewari, Ravneet Bittu and Amar Singh were also present at the protest in solidarity with farmers.
Farmers' organisations have been staging protests at Delhi's borders for two weeks to press their demand for repeal of the three farm laws.
The farmers are protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the 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 mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
(With PTI inputs)
