NEW DELHI: Two days after PM Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws, there are indications that the Union Cabinet is likely to take up for approval on Wednesday the bills for withdrawal of the three legislations.
However, the farm leaders seem divided over the decision with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha not inclined to back off just yet. Rather, bolstered by what it perceives as its triumph, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha met at Singhu border and decided to go ahead with its proposed march to Parliament on November 29 -- when the houses meet for Winter Session.
The farm movement, which was shrivelling, has again gained a momentum and the leaders have decided to compel the government to address their pending demands, the most notable being a central legislation to guarantee a Minimum Support Price. As a first step in this direction, they have decided to send an open letter to PM Modi.
The farmers are maintaining that their protest will continue till the laws are officially withdrawn and cases filed against many of them over the last one year are withdrawn. This is an indication that some protesters will stay put at border areas of Delhi.
A statement issued by SKM said that a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' will be held in Lucknow on Monday, a 'Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Diwas' will be observed on Sir Chhotu Ram's birth anniversary on November 24, a march to Delhi’s borders will be organised on November 26 and a march to Parliament on November 29.
The farmers' front has called another meeting on November 27 to review the situation.
In a rejoinder to the Prime Minister's remark that there may be something lacking in the government's "tapasya" that they could not "explain the truth" about the laws to some farmers, the SKM said it was the protesting farmers "who did the true ‘tapasya’ with faith".
"These ‘annadaatas’ have taken the historic movement to the cusp of a historic first victory with their ‘tapasya’ and are steadily taking this towards full victory, which will actually be a victory for democracy itself. This victory is not a question of someone's pride or ego, but a matter of lives and livelihoods of millions of ignored and marginalised Indians," the SKM said, asserting that their movement is bigger than a farmers' agitation.
On the government side, questions are being raised in political corridors whether or not the decision to repeal the laws that the government advocated vigorously for months on end as a necessary reform would set a precedent for other reforms in the pipeline. Or for that matter, other bills proposed or Acts already introduced, such as the Citizens' Amendment Act (CAA).
