Centre must repeal farm laws or it will cost BJP-JJP in Haryana heavily, say section of JJP MLAs

NEW DELHI: The Centre should repeal the three farm laws or it will cost the ruling BJP-JJP alliance in Haryana "heavily", a section of JJP MLAs said on Tuesday, hours before their party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah here.

Chautala and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar are scheduled to meet Shah in the national capital, and they will be accompanied by BJP state president O P Dhankar.

The BJP, which won 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly in the 2019 polls, formed government with the support of 10 Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs and several Independents.


The Centre should rollback these laws as farmers of Haryana, Punjab and the country are up in arms against the legislations, JJP MLA Jogi Ram Sihag told .

"We will request Dushyant ji to convey our feelings to Amit Shah ji," he said.

Before meeting Shah, Chautala will hold a meeting with all his party's MLAs at a farm house here.

"I have nothing to do with the JJP (meeting)... not going to Delhi... the sentiment in Haryana is against the three farm laws and it will cost the ruling BJP-JJP alliance heavily in the coming days," JJP MLA Ram Kumar Gautam said.

The meeting being organised by Chautala is being seen as an attempt to keep his flock of MLAs in the alliance as the farmers' agitation dominates the political narrative in Haryana.

Last week Khattar could not address a farmers' rally in his Karnal constituency after farmers ransacked the venue. In a similar incident a few weeks back, protesting farmers dug up a helipad in Chautala's constituency, Hisar.

Moreover, Independent MLA Somveer Sangwan has already withdrawn support from the government.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November 28 last year, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops.

Farmers are protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The three farm laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.