Even after the central government’s curt refusal to allow any political personality to be involved in negotiations with the farmers’ unions, Ichchadhari protester Yogendra Yadav, a political activist and former psephologist, has been stubbornly trying to affect his importance by forcing himself into the ongoing negotiations.
Two days after the Centre agreed to two of the demands made by the protesting farmers’ unions, Yadav today dished out yet another threat to the government stating that if their remaining demands are not accepted by the government in the next round of talks scheduled to take place on January 4, they will hold a march at Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) on January 6. He also added that they will shortly announce a date on when they would move forward from Shahjahanpur border.
The claims that 50 percent of issues have been resolved are false. Our two main demands — three farm bills should be scrapped and legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) are still pending: Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India https://t.co/FLmyCoP7As
— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2021
Rejecting the claims that 50 per cent of their demands had been met, Ichchadhari protester Yogendra Yadav alleged that their main demands concerning the scrapping of the three newly introduced Farm Laws and a guarantee on the MSP are still pending.
Yadav’s demand comes days after the central government agreed to farmers’ demand to exclude farmers from the penal provisions of the Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020. It also agreed to not pursue the draft Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.
In the same press conference, Haryana farmer leader Vikas Sisar threatened to topple the Haryana government over the farm laws. He said that all petrol pumps and malls will be forcefully shut down. The activist claimed that the protests will continue till the alliance between BJP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) breaks, causing the govt to fall.
Yogendra Yadav attempts to hijack farmer-government talks with his maximalist demands
However, it appears that Yadav seeks to exploit the centre’s amenability to the hilt and hustle them into agreeing to all the demands posed by the protesters. Ever since the ‘intellectuals’ have taken over the so-called farmers’ protests against the government, they have sought to delude a section of protesters into believing that the central government could be cowed into submission by dint of protests and demonstrations.
To this end, they have even expanded the scope of their demands from the initial farm laws that triggered the protests. Earlier on Wednesday, Yadav addressed people through periscope where he revealed the four core demands that the ‘farmers’ would discuss on the talks proposed with the government later that day. He had then stated four key demands—repeal of farm laws, market intervention and other prospective measures for MSP, annulment of stubble burning laws that punish farmers and withdrawal of the draft electricity bill.
Despite being a non-entity in the negotiations, Yadav has been thrusting himself in the discussions with a maximalist position that is doing more harm than good to the farmers’ cause. The intent here is clearly ‘My way or the high way’ which is evidently not how a person approaches honest negotiations. The motive of such a move is to push the central government to the wall and compel them to call off the talks so that they could be later vilified as anti-farmers.
Modi government bars Yogendra Yadav from attending the farmer-government talks
It is pertinent to note that the Centre had earlier last month prevented political activist and self-proclaimed psephologist Yogendra Yadav from inviting himself and presenting himself as a part of the delegation of farmers that held talks with the government.
The government did not want any political personality to be associated in negotiations with the farmers’ union and expressed their displeasure when Yogendra Yadav tried to project himself as a farmers’ representative. Since then, Yadav has been trying hard to snivel his way into the farmer-govt talks and make himself relevant in the ongoing negotiations. He has been periodically addressing media and convening press conferences, making outrageous demands on behalf of the ‘farmers’, in a bid to demonstrate that he still holds importance. It appears that Yogendra Yadav is finding it difficult to reconcile to the fact that the central government has shunted him out of the negotiations.