Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday and requested him to listen to the farmers with an open mind and “ quickly resolve the stand-off .”
After the half-hour meeting, Capt. Singh told reporters outside Mr. Shah’s residence that the protests should be ended soon as the matter also pertained to national security.
“We have reiterated our position, it is between the farmers and the Government of India now, it was for them to resolve. I came to meet the Home Minister to reiterate our position and to also make a request to him and the farmers that we must resolve the issue soon because this affects the economy of my State and also national security,” the Chief Minister said. The Punjab Assembly had passed legislation to negate the farm laws passed by Parliament. The laws are yet to get the Governor’s nod.
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Later he tweeted, “Today I met Union Home Minister @AmitShah Ji and reiterated the need to protect MSP & continue with the APMC based mandi system. Requested him to listen to the farmers with an open mind & quickly resolve the standoff.”
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country have assembled on Delhi borders
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Earlier in the day, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met Mr. Shah over the farmers’ agitation. Mr. Tomar later held a seven-hour meeting with farmer leaders at Vigyan Bhavan.