Farmers protest

While all the organisations welcome the suggestions of the Supreme Court to stay the implementation of the farm laws, they are collectively and individually not willing to participate in any proceeding before a committee that may be appointed by the apex court.

Interim President Sonia Gandhi has sought support from like-minded parties on the ongoing agitation by the farmers, sources said. According to the sources, she spoke to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, and they, in turn, are likely to speak other opposition party leaders to mobilise support.

Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, who headed the bench also comprising Justices A.S Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, said it is extremely disappointing to see the way the Centre has handled farmers' agitation. Something went enormously wrong as it failed to develop a consensus on the three laws by taking farmers' unions on board, while eight rounds of talks between the two sides have been inconclusive, he noted.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted an old video clip of him speaking on the agrarian issues in Parliament in 2015 wherein he remarked that "the land of the farmers is getting costlier, and the government is making the farmers weak".

Earlier, Mayawati had written that the Central government must immediately withdraw the three farm laws and must not adopt a high-handed attitude but be sympathetic towards the protesting farmers.

The affidavit filed by Delhi resident Rishabh Sharma contended that the continuous blockade of public roads by the farmers at various places is only causing undue hardship to the common citizens, which is again violating their constitutional rights of free movements.

Ahead of the talks, the government had expressed hope of positive results from the meeting while the farmers threatened to intensify the stir if their demand to repeal three contentious farm laws is not fulfilled. Farmer leader Gurbaksa Singh Barnala said that the farmers will intensify the stir and enter Delhi on Republic Day if their demands are not met. "There is no way forward but to repeal the three laws," he said.

Harinder Singh Lakhowal, Punjab farmer leader and General Secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), told IANS that preparations were on to intensify the agitation and make the programme on Thursday a success. He informed that farmers from Punjab are coming with their tractors for the march. Farmers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are also joining the rally.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde told Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal, representing the Centre, "There is absolutely no improvement in the situation."

The meeting started around 2.30 p.m. at Vigyan Bhavan in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash.