Will be meeting HM Amit Shah at 7 PM today: Rakesh Tikait

A day ahead of the sixth round of the talks between farmer unions and the Government on December 9, the Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has invited some representatives of the farmer unions to discuss the ongoing stir of the farmers.

Talking to the media, the BKU leader said that he along with some 13 or 14 representatives of the union have been invited by Mr Shah and they will be going to attend this meeting.

Though, the Home Minister office is yet to confirm about this proposed meeting on Tuesday evening at Mr Shah’s residence, Mr Tikait said he is hopeful that something positive will come today.

The proposed meeting gain significance as the all five rounds of talks between the Government and farmers have remained inconclusive so far and the farmers' protest has entered the 13th day.

The protesting farmers had given a call for a nation-wide Bharat Bandh on Tuesday which passed off peacefully.

The fifth round of talks between government and farmers' representatives on last Saturday also ended in a stalemate with both sides agreeing to meet for the sixth round on December nine. Farmer leaders stuck to their demand of repeal of the three farm marketing laws.

The meeting on Saturday lasted about five hours and the Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar once again reiterated that the Government had assured the farmers that MSP would remain intact without any change.

He had also told the farmers that they expected concrete suggestions from them and it would be easier for the government to come to an amicable solution.

He reiterated the central government's commitment to farmers' welfare and their interests and said there would be no letup in that.

The Minister appealed to the farmers to send their elderly and children who are participating in the agitation, to their homes because of severe cold and Covid pandemic