Opposition parties extend support to protest call of farmers' organization on May 26
text_fields
Farmers shout slogans as they block a highway during their ongoing protest against the central government's recent agricultural reforms on the outskirts of Amritsar on February 6, 2021.
Twelve opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party and DMK extended their support to the countrywide protest call of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on May 26. May 26 shall mark six months of the farmers' protests against the three controversial farm laws passed by the parliament in September. Farmers from across the country gathered in protest at Singhu and Tikri borders of demanding repeal.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister H D Devegowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray, M K Stalin and Hemant Soren, former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah (JKPA) and Akhilesh Yadav (SP) besides Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), D Raja (CPI) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) issued a joint statement demanding that the Centre resume talks with farmers' leaders and repeal the three laws.
"We extend our support to the call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to observe a countrywide protest day on May 26 marking the completion of six months of the heroic peaceful Kisan struggle," the statement said.
"The Central Government must stop being obdurate and immediately resume talks with SKM on these lines," it said.
The opposition leaders said that they have jointly written to PM Modi on May 12 demanding "repeal of farm laws to protect lakhs of our 'annadatas" becoming victims of the pandemic so that they can continue to produce food to feed the Indian people."
"We demand the immediate repeal of the farm laws and the legal entitlement to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of C2+50 per cent as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission," they said.
