The central government, ahead of its meeting with the Farmers’ Union on Tuesday, reportedly prevented political activist and self-proclaimed psephologist Yogendra Yadav from inviting himself and presenting himself as a part of the delegation of farmers that held talks with the government.
The government did not want any political personality to be associated in negotiations with the farmers’ union and expressed their displeasure when Yogendra Yadav tried to project himself as a farmers’ representative.
Initially, the farmers’ union raised concerns to the government over the invitation being extended to only representatives from Punjab. In a bid to have a representation from across the country, they proposed 4 names in the delegation in addition to the 32 representatives from Punjab.
This four representative included— Gurnam Singh Chaduni from BKU Haryana; the national president of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdur Mahasangh Shiv Kumar Kakka from Madhya Pradesh; the general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha Hannan Mollah; and Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav.
Amit Shah objected to my presence in the meeting: Yogendra Yadav
However, the Indian government objected to the inclusion of Yogendra Yadav’s name in the list. Yadav, speaking to the media, has claimed that it was Home Minister Amit Shah who had ‘personally objected’ to his presence. Shah had reportedly told the farmers that Yadav was a political leader and that they were only interested in having talks with the actual stakeholders, i.e the farmers, not the politicians.
“Though the farmers union decided that the invitation to the meeting would be accepted only if the four representatives were also added to the delegation, I was informed that Amit Shah personally objected to me being a part of it. The government said that I was political. The farmers’ union were ready to boycott the meeting but they went ahead with it on my insistence,” Yadav said as quoted by the Indian Express.
However, some other leaders have stated that many farmer leaders from Punjab did not want Yadav in the meeting either, because there is a growing resentment among the leaders over some ‘politicians’. As per the Hindu report, many Punjab farmer leaders were miffed at Yadav for trying to shift the protest venue to Burari grounds. Besides, the fact that some politicians like Yadav have been hogging all the limelight despite not contributing enough for the movement has also created displeasure among many leaders who have been ignored by media despite bringing thousands of protestors to Delhi.
Meeting between Centre and Farmers’ delegation remain inconclusive, to meet again on Thursday
The central government on Tuesday proposed to establish a committee to look into issues raised by farmers protesting against new farm laws, but it was rejected by representatives of the farmers’ union during their marathon meeting with three union ministers that ended without any resolution. As the meeting remained inconclusive, the government called for another round of discussions on Thursday.
The government has asked farmers’ bodies to identify specific issues related to the three new farm laws and submit those by Wednesday for consideration.