New Delhi, Nov 22 (UNI) Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately call a meeting with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and discuss the demand of the farmers. Yechury’s comments came after a massive rally of the protesting farmers under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) in Lucknow. “This massive Kisan Mahapanchayat at Lucknow today reflects the determination & resolve to force the central govt to confer the legal right of MSP and other demands listed in SKMs open letter to PM Modi,” Yechury said in a tweet. “Modi must immediately convene a meeting with SKM to discuss the issues raised in this open letter,” he said.
Protesting farmers have written a letter to Prime Minister Modi with a list of demands, which includes MSP at C2+50 percent formula suggested by the Swaminathan committee, and dismissal of MoS Home Ajay Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. The other demands include withdrawal of draft electricity bill, removal of penal provisions on farmers under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, withdrawal of cases against farmers filed during agitation and compensation for families of farmers who died during the agitation. The SKM in the letter also said that after 11 rounds of talks, government chose the path of “unilateral declaration” rather than a bilateral solution, and urged the Prime Minister to talk to the protesting farmers. PM Modi had announced on Friday that the three controversial Farm Laws will be withdrawn.