Centre reaches out to farmers backing farm laws; protesters cry foul

Protesting farmers accused the Centre of creating a divide between farmers by reaching out to those supporting the reforms

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has started reaching out to farmers supporting agriculture sector reforms, prompting the agitating farmers to accuse the government of creating a divide amongst them even as protests against the farm laws entered the 18th day on Sunday.

Agitating farmers took out a protest march on the Delhi-Jaipur highway while another group camped at Hodal on the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border as part of its plans to block highways to the national capital.

With no end in sight to the agitation, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met a group farmers from Uttarakhand who declared their support for the farm laws – the third such group to call on the minister over the past one week. Earlier, farmers from Haryana had called on Tomar and backed farm laws.

Farmers belonging to the Bhartiya Kisan Union(Bhanu), who had moved the Supreme Court against the farm laws, met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday night and called off their protests that had blocked the Delhi-UP border at Noida.

Tomar and junior minister for Commerce Som Parkash met Home Minister Amit Shah with a group of BJP leaders from Punjab to assess the political situation in the state, which has turned as the epicenter of protests against the farm laws.

“The government is bringing its agents and presenting them as farmers with the intention to create a divide in the agitation,” Gurnam Singh Chadhuni, President of the Haryana unit of Bhartiya Kisan Union, told reporters here.

The leaders of all the protesting farmer unions will observe a day-long hunger strike on Monday, while demonstrations were planned at district headquarters across the country to intensify the agitation.

On Sunday, prominent activists Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar, Hannan Mollah led farmers' marched from Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan, around 120 km from Delhi. The marching farmers were stopped at the Haryana border at Rewari, where the police had put up barricades.

Tomar lashes out at Opposition

Addressing the farmers, Tomar slammed the opposition, accusing it of weakening the country.

“The previous governments who wanted to bring the same reforms could not do it. Manmohan Singh tried many times, but could not do it. Now, when the reforms are implemented, a propaganda is being spread,” the Agriculture Minister said addressing the farmers from Uttarakhand.