Farm laws: Delhi Police refuse permission to Rahul Gandhi to march to Rashtrapati Bhavan with MPs
The farmers’ round-the-clock sit-ins, despite the cold weather, entered 29th day.
The Delhi Police on Thursday refused to give permission to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to lead a demonstration of party members to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest the agricultural laws.
Around 20,000 members of the Kisan Sena, meanwhile, will march from western Uttar Pradesh to Delhi to support the Centre’s farm laws.
Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at key entry points to Delhi for 28 straight days against the laws, withstanding temperatures dropping to 2-3 degree Celsius.
On Wednesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of farmer unions, rejected the government’s offer of talks on the three farm laws, saying they were seeking the revocation of the legislations and want a concrete proposal to resolve the crisis.
Dialing up the rhetoric, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the protesting farmers should tell the Centre what to “add and subtract” from its amendments proposal.
Live updates
10.45 am: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor says party members will march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and discuss the farm laws, even though the Delhi Police have refused to give permission for the demonstration, reports ANI.
We will march to Rashtrapati Bhavan. We want govt to atone for their complete lack of consulting farmers before passing these bills. I think President has an important moral role in encouraging & guiding govt to not stand on their legislative pride: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor pic.twitter.com/jT3VTLsmnr
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
10.34 am: The Haryana Police registers cases against 13 farmers for allegedly blocking Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s convoy and waving black flags at him in Ambala on Tuesday while protesting against the farm laws, reports ANI. “We have registered cases against 13 farmers under various sections of Indian Penal Code and have initiated a probe into the matter,” says Ambala Deputy Superintendent of Police Madan Lal.
10.31 am: New Delhi Additional District Commissioner of Police Deepak Yadav says Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been refused permission to march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan with other party leaders to protest against the farm laws, reports ANI. “However, three leaders who have an appointment at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be allowed to go,” Yadav adds.
8.30 am: Meanwhile, farmer leaders from Punjab protesting at Delhi borders have started travelling to different parts of the country to draw support against the farm laws, reports The Indian Express.
Protesting unions have planned to take the agitation to 20 states, covering nearly 500 districts by December end, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee says.
8.22 am: A five-member TMC MPs’ delegation from West Bengal met farmers at the Singhu border on Wednesday, to show their support against the Centre’s three farm laws, reports The Indian Express.
8.18 am: Farmers’ union Kisan Sena announces that thousands of its members from western Uttar Pradesh will march to Delhi today in support of the Centre’s new agriculture laws, reports PTI.
“We have written to the authorities concerned for permission regarding our march to Delhi but have not got reply,” Kisan Sena convener Thakur Gauri Shankar Singh tells PTI. “In any case, around 20,000 of Kisan Sena supporters will be en route to Delhi to meet Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday.”
8.05 am: Protesting farmers say that they’d accept government’s latest invite for talks if the proposal talks about “legalising” minimum support price system, reports News18.
“There is an attempt to break the protest by holding talks with organisations that have nothing to do with it,” Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav says. “We have received no concrete proposal. Written proposal is a reiterating of verbal proposal on December 5 that we have already rejected. We stick to our demand of complete repeal. There is no assurance, nothing concrete on MSP. That is no legal guarantee offered. If the government sends a draft legalising MSP, we will accept.”
8 am: Tens of thousands of protestors have camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi for 28 days now to protest against the Narendra Modi government’s farm laws.