Farmers ready to talk if govt invites: Rakesh Tikait

Protesting farmers are ready to talk if the Centre invites them, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said, maintaining that dialogue would resume where it had ended on January 22 and the demands remain unchanged.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the three new agri-marketing laws for nearly five months now, braving the raging pandemic.

Tikait said, the government should invite the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body representing the protestors who are camping at the three border points of Delhi at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

“The talks with the government would resume from the same point where it had ended on January 22. The demands are also the same -- all three 'black' farm laws should be repealed, a new law made to ensure MSP (minimum support price) for crops,” Tikait was quoted as saying in a statement issued by BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik.

The remark came in response to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij urging Narendra Singh Tomar to resume talks with farmers amid the coronavirus case upsurge.

As coronavirus cases recording an increase and the situation worsening in Haryana, Anil Vij said, he is concerned about farmers protesting.