Akhilesh Yadav disapproves of Centre's proposal on farm laws, links move to 2024 LS polls

On Wednesday, SP president Akhilesh Yadav dubbed the Centre's proposal of staying the implementation of the three farm laws for one and a half years as "irrational". The Union government mooted this idea at the 11th round of talks with the farmers' unions in a bid to resolve the standoff over the agrarian laws. Yadav opined that there was no chance of the farm laws being acceptable in 2023 as they are flawed at present.

According to him, the Centre was trying to delay the farm law implementation owing to the fear of people's opposition. Moreover, he alleged that the Union government's move was a ploy to benefit the industrialists in the last year before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The farmers' unions have agreed to consider the proposal and promised to get back to the Union government with their response at 12 pm on January 22.

Read: SC Slams 'branding People You Don't Want As Biased', Lobby's Aspersions On Farm Laws Panel

SC stays farm law implementation

On January 12, a three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian laid down the roadmap for the resolution of the standoff by staying the implementation of the farm laws. Furthermore, it has not only ordered that the MSP system in place before the enactment of the agrarian legislation shall continue but also made it clear that the landholdings of the farmers shall be protected. As per the order, the SC-constituted committee will solicit the views of farm unions and the Centre. This panel has been directed to submit its recommendations pertaining to the farm laws to the SC within two months from the date of its first sitting.

Additionally, the representatives of all farmer unions, irrespective of whether they are holding a protest or not, have been asked to participate in the deliberations of the committee and put forth their viewpoints. Though the court said that it did not intend to stifle a "peaceful protest", it appealed to the farmers' unions to convince their members to get back to their livelihood as a result of this "extraordinary order". Earlier in the day, the Centre withdrew its plea seeking an injunction against the farmers' rally in the national capital on Republic Day after the apex court stressed that the Delhi Police has the authority to deal with the issue. 

Read: SC-appointed Committee Can't Resolve Crisis Over Farm Laws: SAD Chief Sukhbir Badal