Union ministers deliberate ahead of meet with farmers CENTRE HOLDS SEPARATE MEET WITH TIKAIT FARMERS
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the second round of talks between the Centre and the representatives of protesting farmers, Union home minister Amit Shah held deliberations with agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and railway minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday on ways to dispel concerns over the new farm laws, as protests against the contentious laws entered the seventh day.
Tomar and Goyal, along with minister of state for commerce Som Parkash, an MP from Punjab, had represented the Union government on Tuesday during the talks with farmer leaders, who have been demanding a repeal of the newly enacted laws.
During the deliberations on Wednesday, the ministers discussed the issues raised by farmers, and how the Union government can constructively respond to dispel concerns expressed by them over the farm laws.
Over 35 farmer leaders had held a three-hour meeting on Tuesday at Vigyan Bhavan with the ministerial delegation.
NEW DELHI: The Union government held separate negotiations on Monday night with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)’S Tikait faction, which holds sway over western Uttar Pradesh, hoping to build a bridge with a farmers’ group well known to some senior government ministers.
Rakesh Tikait, the spokesperson of the BKU (Tikait faction), told HT his group was backing the protests by farmers from Punjab and the separate meeting was held to further explore avenues for a solution. Protests by thousands of farmers simmered for the seventh straight day.