Amid farmers’ protests against the Centre’s three new farm laws, the protesting farmers on Saturday said they would block all the major highways linking to the national capital of Delhi and they would sit on hunger strike on Monday in a bid to intensify their demonstrations against the new legislations, PTI reported. 

Protesting farmers on Saturday picketed toll plazas in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan and claimed that they would intensify their stir against the agriculture laws, even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier in the day, said that the three laws will help in increasing farmers’ income. 

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Farmer leader Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, during a press conference on Saturday, said that thousands of farmers will start their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march from Rajasthan’s Shahjahanpur through the Jaipur-Delhi Highway at 11 am on Sunday. 

Farmer leaders said more protesters were on their way from Punjab and Harayana too. They said that in a bid to make their agitation even ‘bigger,” farmers’ “mothers, sisters and daughters will also join them soon.”

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Pannu said farmers will sit on a hunger strike between 8 am and 5 pm on Monday at the Singhu border during the nationwide protest. 

“If the government wants to hold talks, we are ready, but our main demand will remain the scrapping of the three laws. We will move onto our other demands only after that,” Pannu said.

As of now, farmer leaders and the Centre have held five rounds of talks, all of which have remained inconclusive, with no sign of end to the deadlock. The farmers have rejected a government offer to amend the farm laws and give a “written assurance” on continuing the MSP (minimum support price) system. 

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Union Minister Som Prakash, who is negotiating with the protesting farmers, said efforts are being made to call an early meeting with farmer leaders.