Farmers demand special Parl session to repeal farm laws

New Delhi: Protesting farmers on Wednesday demanded that the Central government call a special session of Parliament to repeal the three new farm laws and threatened to block other roads to the Capital if their demands are not met.

In a press conference at the Delhi-Haryana Singhu border, farmer leader Darshan Pal also accused the Centre of trying to break the unity of the farmers by asking for a small member committee in the December 1 talks.

"If the government does not listen to us, our agitation will continue intensely. Our demand is that the government take out a special Parliament session to repeal these laws. We have given our written demands to the Centre," Pal said, adding that the letters with seven key demands had been sent to Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.

Union Home minister Amit Shah will meet Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday amid the escalating protest around Delhi.

Meanwhile, the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), an umbrella body of goods' vehicles operators representing about 10 million truckers, called for a strike from December 8 in support of the farmers' protest.

"From December 8 onwards, we will shut all our operations across North India and stop all our vehicles across North Indian states and UTs (Union Territories) including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal, and Jammu (& Kashmir). We have decided that if the government still does not agree to the demands of the protesting farmers, then we will call for a Chakka Jam all across India and stop all our vehicles," said AIMTC president Kultaran Singh Atwal.

Calling out the Central ministry for its ignorance on the farmers, farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakaji from Madhya Pradesh said: "All these ministers are repeating what the PM is saying. I want to ask whether they think the farmers are illiterate. You can lie as much as you want Modiji, but we will give you all the reasons to repeal the law."

On the other hand, Maharashtra and Gujarat farmer leaders have said they will burn the effigy of Prime Minister Modi and other leaders in their districts for not listening to the voice of the farmers.

As support for the farmers gathered, Rashtriya Lok Dal vice-president Jayant Chaudhary assured his party's support to the ongoing stir.