CM: Centre should initiate unconditional talks immediately
New Delhi: After over 30 farmers' associations and unions on Sunday evening unanimously rejected the Centre' condition that dialogue will be only initiated if the protest is moved to the Nirankari Ground in Burari, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal broke his two-day silence over the massive farmers' protests and lent legitimacy to their cause.
The national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party on Twitter wrote, "Centre should initiate unconditional talks with the farmers immediately". And even as the farmers at a press conference on the Singhu border announced that they would not let political parties hijack their stage or cause, the CM retweeted a news clip of a farmer leader explaining their issues with the recently enacted laws, which they say will ultimately lead to contract farming without any kind of price security for them.
He said, "Please listen carefully, farmers are explaining to you some nuances of these laws that they have objections to."
Furthermore, Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who had recently rejected the Delhi Police's request to imprison protesting farmers in stadiums, also stood with farmers on Sunday, saying, "There should not be any terms and conditions pertaining to deliberations with the farmers. They are our providers and they should be tended to immediately, and be allowed to carry out their peaceful protest. We have to respect the effort they have made to come from their homes all the way to Delhi to voice their opinion. We should not be ignorant of their problems."
Meanwhile, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi, Raghav Chadha, and Saurabh Bharadwaj highlighted launched a scathing attack on Home Minister Amit Shah for his apparent "lack of interest" in the issue as he campaigned for his Bharatiya Janata Party in Hyderabad's civic body elections.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said that his party believes that the Home Minister has shown utter irresponsibility by leaving Delhi to campaign for Hyderabad municipal election when lakhs of farmers are waiting to talk to him at the Delhi border.
Significantly, while the border stalemate continues and only a handful of protesters occupy the Burari ground, the CM and his Deputy Manish Sisodia are yet to meet with the farmers in person.
AAP's chief spokesperson Raghav Chadha slammed Punjab CM Captain Amrinder Singh and the BJP and claimed that the Captain is a BJP Chief Minister and not a CM of Punjab or of its farmers. "We will strengthen this revolution," he added — a sentiment echoed by AAP's senior leader Sanjay Singh as well.
Singh said AAP demanded Shah to first resolve the issues of the farmers by listening to them and finding an immediate solution. He said, "The farmers who are from the state of great freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh and others are being termed as terrorists by the BJP."
