Kisan Sansad begins parallel to Parliament session, Centre says ready to talk 

NEW DELHI:  Farmers began a parallel Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar barely a few kilometres away from Parliament under the hawk eyes of the administration which had deployed a massive contingent of police, RAF, and CRPF on Thursday. 

Four buses carrying a group of farmers reached the heart of Delhi from Singhu border after Lt-Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to their demonstration on the condition that only a maximum of 200 protestors will be allowed daily till August 9. It was the first time since the January 26 violence that the farmer unions got the nod to hold a protest in the city.

On the first day of the ‘Kisan Sansad’, those attending the event spoke at large on the three central laws, with ‘Speaker’ and ‘Deputy Speakers’ from the group conducting three sessions of discussion in the day. 
Later, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters outside Parliament that the government was ready to discuss all issues with the farmers with an open mind.

“This Kisan Sansad will become the voice of all the farmers across India in the coming few days. We are here to keep vigil, to discuss our demands. The government keeps on saying that it does not know what objections farmers have to these three laws. We invite them to the Kisan Sansad and discuss and explain,” said Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav.

In a statement, Samyukta Kisan Morcha said the Sansad participants raised several points regarding the unconstitutional nature of the agri laws, the undemocratic processes by which the government brought them in, and the serious implications on farm livelihoods.