Clearing the confusion, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday said that the protest will continue till 'all of their demands' are met and added that the repeal of farm laws was just the first step. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Centre would repeal the three farm laws, marking a climbdown by his government to meet the unrelenting demand of the farmers.
In an exclusive interview with India TV, Tikait said, "Of course, we are happy that all the three farm laws have been repealed, but this is not the end. The Centre should also start a dialogue on a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP)." The Congress and Left parties have also demanded that a law should be enacted on the MSP guarantee while repealing the three laws from last year.
After its decision to repeal the three agri laws, the Centre is now facing pressure from agitating farmer unions and opposition parties to bring in a legislation guaranteeing Minimum Support Price. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the agitating unions, is meeting on Sunday to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue and the proposed daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session.
"In 2011, the then Manmohan Singh government also didn't bring a legislation guaranteeing MSP, neither is this government making any attempts to do the same."
On Anti-social elements
When asked about any anti-social elements hijacking the protest, the farmer leader said, "What is our intelligence doing to tackle to Anti-social elements. No one can hijack our movement... This is completely Centre's failure that they allowed this andolan to continue for so long."
On Opposition taking advantage of the protest
"I don't see any wrong in Opposition questioning Centre's action or inaction on the protest. This the job of the Opposition to ask questions."
Hundreds of protesting farmers have been camping at important stretches of Delhi's borders in Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020, forcing people to take detours during interstate travel. The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the three laws in January.
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