Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah today in Delhi to discuss farmers' protests against the three Central farm laws. Singh had Wednesday told reporters that he will meet Shah along with some agricultural exports.
“I am going to meet Home Minister Shah and 25-30 people will go with me," he told reporters in Chandigarh yesterday at a press conference. This will be Singh's second meeting with Shah after he resigned as the Chief Minister of Punjab on September 18.
Singh had last met Amit Shah on September 29 at his residence in Delhi, raising speculation over his future plans ahead of the Assembly polls in Punjab. The meeting that lasted for around 45 minutes came amid indications that Singh may be seeking the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Singh later said that he discussed the farmers' issues, besides the internal security situation in Punjab with Shah.
Singh has been alleging that instability in Punjab may give Pakistan a handle to create disturbance in the border state. He has also accused Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu of being "close to (Pakistani Prime Minister) Imran Khan" and alleged that he is "dangerous" for the border state.
Meanwhile, the BJP has welcomed Amarinder Singh’s intervention in resolving deadlock with protesting farmers. Party general general secretary Tarun Chugh said that Singh’s intervention in solving the ongoing deadlock with the protesting farmers was welcome.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh have been agitating at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- since last November against the three farm laws that they claim will do away with the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations. Over 10 rounds of talks with the government, which has been projecting the laws at major agricultural reforms, have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties. Although the Supreme Court has put the three laws on hold, farmers are adamant about their demand.
Earlier on January 26, a tractor parade in Delhi, that was to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three agriculture laws, had dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.
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