Govt should offer to pause farm laws indefinitely, not 18 months: KC Tyagi
Senior Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi has termed as positive the government's proposal to farmer unions to pause the new farm laws for 18 months. He, however, suggested that the government should not make this time-bound and offer to pause the laws indefinitely. In an exclusive conversation with India TV’s Ajay Kumar on Thursday afternoon, Tyagi said that he has full faith in the government and hailed the efforts made by the panel led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to break the deadlock. He said that the government’s offer to pause the laws is a result of dialogue and urged the farmers not to let opposition parties hijack their agitation.
"If the government and farmers need my help, I am always ready to help," he said. Bharatiya Kisan Union media in-charge Dharmendra Malik has said that Tyagi should mediate between the farmers and government to break the deadlock over the farm laws.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and west UP are protesting against the new farms since November 26 against the agri laws. They claim that the new laws will weaken the MSP system. But the Centre says the MSP system will remain and the new laws only provide more options for farmers to sell their produce.
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Tyagi, a Rajya Sabha MP, said that BJP and JDU leaders are product of agitations. "Dialogue is the only way to solve the problems," he said.
Tyagi also suggested farmers not to allow politicians to hijack their agitation and keep they at bay.
"Farmer organisations should restrain from offering their stages to politicians. It should not become NDA vs UPA," he said.
Tyagi also suggested that the government should involve leaders like Parkash Singh Badal, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Singh and Rajnath Singh to find a solution.
"The government's offer to pause the farm laws for 1.5 year is definitely a positive move. It should be paused indefinitely...farmers and government should talk and may be consensus can be reached in six months. There cannot be a timeframe for this," said.
The JDU leader also commended the Modi government for providing free ration to 80 crore people during the lockdown.
"Narendra Modi is an elected Prime Minister. He is a popular leader," he said, adding that "time has come to set up a Kisan Aayog".
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