President Ram Nath Kovind will meet an opposition delegation on Wednesday.
New Delhi:
Representatives from 24 political parties plan to meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday, ahead of the talks between protesting farmers and the Centre to resolve the deadlock over the farm sector laws. Congress’s Rahul Gandhi is expected to be part of the delegation along with Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and TR Balu.
Opposition parties, which had objected to the farm laws in parliament, had requested the President earlier not to sign on the bills, saying they were passed in an undemocratic manner in the Rajya Sabha. The President, however, had given his assent to all three bills.
On Wednesday, the President will receive only five members of the opposition. But the non-BJP parties, in a sign of unity, have come together to support the farmers’ agitation and sign a memorandum highlighting their concerns and issues once again. President Kovind, they have expressed hope, will intervene in the issue this time.
With the farmers’ agitation continuing at the borders of Delhi for more than 10 days, a diverse group of political parties have come together to support them.
Today, the countrywide shutdown called by the farmers was supported by various political parties including the including the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, DMK and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Several parties, like the Trinamool Congress in Bengal and Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, held peaceful demonstrations in the city.
Ahead of tomorrow’s big meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is meeting representatives of the protesting farmers’ groups this evening, raising hopes of a peaceful resolution.
The last meeting between the Centre and farmers on Saturday, which lasted seven hours, had failed to resolve the deadlock.
