Farmers set for fresh showdown with Centre during Monsoon Session

Delegations of farmers have been meeting MPs from different states to hand over the voters’ whip to them over the farm Bills

Agitating farmers and the Modi government are set for a fresh showdown with protesters demanding repeal of the three farm laws planning to take out daily marches to Parliament beginning Thursday till the end of the monsoon session on August 13.

Delhi Police officials have denied permission to the march as suggested an alternative venue which was not agreeable to the 40 farmers’ organisations who have been protesting at the borders of the national capital since November 26 last year.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament begins from Monday and is scheduled to end on August 13.

Earlier this month, the farmers’ unions had announced that five representatives each from the 40 organisations protesting at the three borders of the national capital will march towards Parliament every day to demand the repeal of the farm laws.

“We informed police that every day 200 farmers will go to Parliament from the Singhu border during the Monsoon session. It will be a peaceful protest and protesters will have identification badges also,” Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh national president Shiv Kumar Kakka said.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of 40 farmers’ unions, made it clear that the farmers had no plans to lay siege to Parliament or try to forcibly enter the building.

It claimed that farmers from various states such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh were expected to join the protests for the duration of the Monsoon Session.

The farmers’ organisations have already issued ‘voters’ whip’ to opposition MPs, asking them not to allow any other legislative business take precedence in Parliament till the three farm laws were repealed.

Delegations of farmers have been meeting MPs from different states to hand over the voters’ whip to them.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has stepped up security at the metro rail network near Parliament. It has also asked the Delhi Metro to maintain extra vigil on its seven metro stations and close them if needed in view of the farmers' protest from July 22. The seven stations are Janpath, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mandi House and Udyog Bhawan.

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