New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to hold talks today with farmers protesting in and around Delhi.
According to sources, he will meet Home Minister Amit Shah, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh at BJP chief JP Nadda’s house, ahead of the discussion.
The earlier scheduled date for the talks was 3 December, it may be recalled.
“On 13 November, we had decided we will meet on 3 December, but farmers are in a mood to protest. It is cold and there is coronavirus. Hence we invite the kisan union heads to Vigyan Bhawan on 1 December at 3 pm. We request you to leave the protest and find a solution through discussion”, Union Minister Narendra Tomar said.
The discussions will be held at the capital’s Vigyan Bhawan at 3 pm. The Agriculture Ministry has prepared a fresh set of presentations and videos on the farm reforms, an official said. The government is expected to have a few economists from the Niti Aayog to join the discussions.
However, the farmers have said they will not attend the talks till all 500 plus organisations are invited for talks.
“There are more than 500 groups of farmers in the country, but the government has invited only 32 groups for talks today. The rest have not been called by the government. We will not be going for talks till all groups are called”, Sukhvinder S Sabhran, Joint Secretary, Punjab Kisan Sangarsh Committee, said.
Over the last five days, thousands of farmers, braving water cannons, tear gas and barricades of the Haryana police, have reached the borders of Delhi. While some of them have managed to enter the city, the rest are sitting at the border areas, saying they are ready to do what it takes to see the end of the three farm laws passed by the Parliament earlier this year.