Extremely worrying that Centre, agitating farmers fail to break deadlock: Mayawati

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Saturday said it was extremely worrying that the eight round of talks between the Centre and the protesting farmers failed to break the deadlock over the new agriculture laws.

In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said,"Negotiations between the central government and the farmers, who have been agitating on Delhi's borders, once again failed, which is extremely worrying. The Centre is again requested to accept the demands of the farmers to withdraw the new agricultural laws and solve the problem soon".

The eighth round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers on Friday failed to break an over-a-month-long deadlock.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said no decision could be reached as farmers' unions did not give alternatives to their demand for the repeal of the laws.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi after the meeting that lasted for little over two hours, Tomar said the government is still hopeful that union leaders will come with alternatives to discuss in the next round of talks on January 15.

But, he virtually ruled out the repeal of the laws saying many other groups across the country are supporting these reforms.

Thousands of farmers have stayed put at various Delhi borders to protest against the three laws they find pro-corporate and against the existing mandi and MSP procurement systems.