New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met last night at BJP chief JP Nadda’s Delhi house, sources said, hours after the farmers protesting in and around the national capital rejected the centre’s proposal of holding early talks and shifting their protest venue. The top BJP leaders held discussions on the protests by thousands of farmers that began last week. The meeting, which came as the protesters threatened to block five entry points to Delhi, reportedly went on for over two hours.
Here are 10 developments in this big story:
The protesting farmers- who have braved water cannons, tear gas and police barricades in the last few days – have threatened to block the roads to Delhi from five entry points: Sonipat, Rohtak, Jaipur, Ghaziabad-Hapur, and Mathura. The Delhi Police this morning appealed to the commuters to take alternate routes as key roads near borders with neighbouring Haryana stay closed.
Amid massive protests against the three contentious agricultural laws, Amit Shah on Saturday said the government was ready to deliberate on “every problem and demand”. The Home Minister, however, had said the protest will have to be shifted to a designated venue if the farmers wanted to hold early discussions with the government; the talks have been scheduled for December 3.
After a meeting on Sunday, the farmers turned down the government’s proposal for early talks, and said they should have approached with “an open heart” and centre shouldn’t have put preconditions.
The government’s offer was rejected over fears that the protest spots the centre suggested can become jails – a concern that started after the Delhi Police sought permission from the Arvind Kejriwal government to turn stadiums to jails for protesters.
“We’ve decided that we’ll never go to Burari Park (protest site suggested by the government) as we got proof that it’s an open jail. Delhi Police told the Uttarakhand Farmers Association chief that they’ll take them to Jantar Mantar but instead locked them at Burari Park,” Surjeet Phul, Bharatiya Kisan Union president, told reporters on Sunday. “Instead of going to open jail in Burari, we’ve decided that we will gherao Delhi by blocking five main entry points to Delhi. We’ve got ration for four months with us, so there’s nothing to worry,” he added.
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