Protest will end when 3 farm laws repealed in Parliament: Rakesh Tikait

Ghaziabad, Nov 19: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday said the ongoing anti-farm laws protest will be withdrawn only after the controversial agri-laws are repealed in the Parliament.

He urged the NDA government to talk to farmers over the issue of minimum support price (MSP) of crops and other matters. The BKU national spokesperson said this on Twitter soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced repealing the three farm laws, which were at the centre of the farmers' protest since November 26 last year.

"The protest will not be withdrawn immediately, we will wait for the day when the farm laws are repealed in Parliament. Along with MSP, the government should talk to farmers on other issues too," Tikait tweeted in Hindi.

Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the PM said the three farm laws were for the benefit of farmers but "we couldn't convince a section of farmers despite best efforts". The goal of the three farm laws was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, he said.

"We have decided to repeal all three farm laws. We will start the constitutional process to repeal all the three laws in the parliament session that starts at the end of this month," Modi said. He urged the protesting farmers to "now return to your home, to your loved ones, to your farms, and family," Modi claimed.

However, the Bharatiyan Kisan Union's (BKU) Ugrahan faction has welcomed Modi's announcement to repeal the three contentious farm laws. "It is a good move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Gurupurab," Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the leader of BKU's Ugrahan faction, told PTI.