DONALD TRUMP...

In Thursday’s message, he said: “Now, Congress has certified the results, and new administration will be inaugurated on January 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth orderly and seamless transition of power.” Even while appearing reconciliatory, though, Trump could not bring himself to either call Biden the winner or congratulate him. He later tweeted he would not attend the new President’s inauguration.

Earlier in the day, Presidentelect Biden launched a scathing attack on his predecessor, tying him to the attack on the Capitol. “For the past four years we’ve had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, and the rule of law clear in everything he has done,” Biden said as he presented his justice department team, to be led by Merrick Garland as attorney general.

But Biden did not associate himself with efforts by Democrats on the Hill to force Trump out, either through the exercise of the 25th Amendment, which empowers the Cabinet to remove the president for being unable to govern, or trying to impeach him, for the second time. His transition team told reporters the President-elect would leave all such decision to the congressional leadership of the Democrats.

Five people, include a Capitol police personnel, died in Wednesday’s hours-long assault on the seat of US democracy that had forced Vice-President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the certification process, and his family, who were also there, and other lawmakers, to take shelter wherever they could, some hiding behind furniture and under desks. Badly outnumbered, security personnel withdrew, yielding full control of the premises to the rioters clad in Trump campaign gear — red hats emblazoned with his poll slogan “Make America Great Again” — and carrying his flag, and those of the Confederacy, which had fought to save slavery, but lost to the Union led by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

The outgoing President’s long-overdue acknowledgement of his electoral defeat came even as calls grew for his ouster, purely a punitive move to end his term just 12 days short of its expiration date. “I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus -- and the American people by the way,” Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives told reporters on Capitol Hill.

She added: “By inciting sedition as he did yesterday, he must be removed for office. While there’s only 13 days left, any day could be a horror show for America.”

But Pence was elusive. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer complained to reporters separately he and Pelosi had tried to call Pence to tell him to invoke the 25th amendment of the American constitution, which empowers the Cabinet to remove the president for being “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. The Vice-President did not take their call as he is not convinced of the judiciousness of the move given the chaos in the White House and the administration.

Trump’s role in the January 6 attack on congress will be part of a sprawling investigation that is underway to identify and prosecute the rioters. Asked if federal agents and prosecutors will look at the incendiary statements by speakers at a rally Trump addressed shortly before the mob set forth for the Capitol, acting US Attorney for DC Michael Sherwin told reporters on a briefing call: “Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but … were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges.”

During the rally before the attack, Trump explicitly incited participants to march to Congress, promising to walk along with them — which he didn’t — to cheer lawmakers speaking in support of his election fraud claims. “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” Trump told his cheering supporters, referring to the certification process. “And we’re probably not going to be cheering, so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

Rudolph Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer, had called for a “trial by combat” at that rally. And the President’s eldest son, Don Trump Jr, had called for a “message (to be sent) to all the Republicans who have not been willing to actually fight, the people who did nothing to stop the steal”. were declared constitutionally valid, they would continue to demand a repeal because they laws were “anti-farmer”.

The three Union ministers — Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash -- who represented the Centre, met Union home minister Amit Shah before heading into the talks on Friday. Matters could soon come to a head because the farmers have said that if the issue remains unresolved they will take out a tricolour march on tractors on Republic Day at Delhi’s Rajpath, where India’s annual military parade and cultural programme is held every January 26.

“You can say there is a breakdown in talks,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, another farm leader present at the talks. “The government has said it cannot and will not repeal the laws.” “It is indeed a very sad day for Indian democracy that in the middle of talks, an elected government which has been constantly cheating the farmers suddenly saying ‘let’s get this resolved through the Supreme Court. Even if the court looks at that issue (validity of the laws), and says yes or no on that, the issue remains that what the farmers are raising is not just the constitutional validity, but the very implications of this kind of a policy direction,” Kuruganti added. Experts said that it appeared the government is banking on a positive verdict in the laws from the Supreme Court. “The government feels if the laws are upheld, it will be a shot in its arm and at least the question of constitutional validity of the laws will be settled,” said Paresh Saha, a political analyst with Hyderabad’s Osmania University. Opening the negotiations on Friday, Tomar said the three federal laws applied to the whole of the country and many farmer organisations supported the laws.