The deadlock between the government and farmers protesting
the farm bills is becoming more intractable with each passing day, with neither
of the party willing to cede ground as the number of protesters keeps swelling at
several entry points of Delhi.

The farmer protest reached its fifth day on Monday, when Prime
Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on it, accusing the opposition
parties of fanning discontent among farmers.

“The farmers are being misled on these historic
agriculture reform laws by the same people who for decades have misled them,”
Modi said in Varanasi where he inaugurated a six-lane highway from Varanasi to
Allahabad.

“These same people have in the past played tricks with
farmers in the name of MSP, loan waiver and fertiliser subsidy,” he said, as
quoted in a PTI report.

While Modi blamed without singling out any one of them, political
parties weighed in on the issue with their own take.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi championed the farmers’
agitation and launched a social media campaign on Monday.   

“The Modi government has persecuted the farmer – first it
brought black laws and then used lathis against them, but it forgot that when
the farmer raises his voice, it resonates throughout the country.

“You also raise your voice against the exploitation of farmers
and join the #SpeakUpForFarmers campaign,” Gandhi said in a tweet in
Hindi.

He said the farm bills passed as ordinance in September were
only for the benefit of Modi’s “two-three friends” and were aimed at stealing
from farmers.

An alliance of opposition parties in Tamil Nadu supported
the farmers calling the three ordinances “dictatorial” and “hegemonic”, and
urged the government to begin negotiations with the farmers respecting their
will.

“More than 500 farmer unions from across India have
rallied on behalf of the country’s 62 million farmers. We all strongly condemn
the dictatorial, hegemonic BJP government for disregarding this massive rally
and stipulating that negotiations will only take place only if the farmers go
to the Burari ground,” the leaders from DMK-led alliance said in a
statement.

The farmers, who were allowed by the government to gather at
Burari ground in north Delhi, have been insisting on holding their protest at
Jantar Mantar in the central part of the city. Hundreds of farmers are still holding peaceful
protest at Singhu and Tikri borders, connecting Delhi with Haryana, with a demand
that they should be allowed to proceed to Jantar Mantar.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to
people of Delhi to help the protesting farmers in whatever way they can.

 Kejriwal, also the
AAP convener, had earlier called the bills “anti-farmer” and had argued that
government should hold “unconditional” talks with the farmers, most of whom
have come from Punjab.

AAP has a considerable stake in Punjab politics with 14 of
the 80 assembly seats there currently with it. It is due to the fight next assembly elections in Punjab in 2022.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too on Monday advised the
government to bring the farmers to table for a talk, to allay their doubts about
the scuppering of minimum support prices for their produce, which forms the
kernel of the entire fracas.

The farmers protesting at Delhi-Ambala highway border held a
press conference on Monday evening, saying that they will continue with their
protest until the government comes with an unconditional proposal for
talks.

“We couldn’t have meeting with farmers’ organisations from
all the states. We could only have it with 30 organisations from Punjab. We
rejected the conditional invitation of Modiji,” Jagmohan Singh, general
secretary, Bharti Kisan Union (Dakaunda) was quoted by ANI.

The mass gathering engendered by the huge farmers’ influx in
coronavirus-stricken Delhi has also raised the chances of the protest becoming a
“super spreader” event.

According to experts, the gathering, during which all
caution has been thrown to the wind about social distancing, can render the farmers, most of whom are elderly, vulnerable to the infection.

“It is important to note that the SARS-COV-2 is a
transmission efficient virus and such gatherings are conducive for its spread,”
Samiran Panda, head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases (ECD) division of
the ICMR told PTI.