Rajasthan CM asks Centre to hold talks with farmers, calls farm laws ‘anti-people’

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday called the three farm laws passed by Parliament “black laws” and pushed the Centre to immediately hold talks with farmers to resolve their issues.

The Congress leader slammed the government for being “up in arms against its own people”.

“NDA government’s anti-people policies have led to various sections of society coming out to oppose. Farmers are protesting too against black farm laws. Instead of resolving their woes, the government is up in arms against its own people,” the Rajasthan chief minister said on Twitter.

Gehlot’s remarks come as tension between farmers and the Haryana Police continued on Thursday with the cops using water cannons and tear gas to stop thousands of protesters heading towards the national capital for ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to protest against the farm laws passed in September.

“As all the farmer organizations in the country have come together for this movement, so understanding the sensitivity of this, the government of India should initiate a dialogue with them without any delay,” Gehlot further said.

Earlier on Thursday, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar invited the farmers for talks on December 3 to resolves differences and issues regarding the new farm laws. He also appealed the farmers to not protest. “I want to appeal to our farmer brothers to not agitate. We are ready to talk about issues and resolve differences. I am sure that our dialogue will have a positive result,” Narendra Singh Tomar said, according to ANI.

Tomar informed that the officials have already had a talk at the secretary level in Punjab. “The new farm laws were the need of the hour. In the coming time, it’s going to bring revolutionary changes. We have spoken at the secretary level in Punjab to dispel wrong notions of our farmer brothers there. We will talk on December 3,” he added.

*Meanwhile, Defence minister Rajnath Singh, speaking on Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), urged the farmers to end their protest. “I appeal to farmers to end their protest. We are not against them, and are open for talks. They should understand that the newly-passed farm bills will benefit small farmers,” he said.

Singh also said that he himself comes from agriculture background and understands the importance of these laws for them.*