PM Modi speaks to Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal on birthday amid farmers' protest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal over the phone and extended best wishes on his birthday, sources said. This comes days after the former Punjab Chief Minister returned his Padma Vibushan in protest against the farm laws. On Monday, Parkash Singh Badal had urged PM Modi to scrap the three new central farm laws, claiming they have pushed the country into a deep turmoil.

Badal urges PM to 'show magnanimity' 

In a four-page letter, Badal called upon the Prime Minister to "show magnanimity and withdraw these laws "as a first step towards the resolution of the serious crisis confronting the country today. Punjab's five-time Chief Minister Badal stressed upon the need for making India "a truly federal country", adding the roots of the ongoing crisis lie in the abdication of our commitment to the federal approach.

"The three Acts in question that have pushed the country into a deep turmoil must be withdrawn without making farmers and their families endure any more suffering in this biting cold," Badal said in his letter. Asserting that he was writing the letter at a time when the problems facing the country are fast assuming the proportions of a grave crisis, he said, "Our approach towards these needs an immediate course correction." I am deeply worried about the ongoing farmers' crisis, he said.

Meanwhile, the former BJP ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, which had snapped ties with the saffron party over the farm laws, appealed to Punjabis to support the bandh on Tuesday. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party would work assiduously alongside the peasantry to ensure the repeal of the new agri-marketing laws. In a statement, Badal said it was unfortunate that the central government was "dragging its feet" and "deliberately delaying" in taking a decision on the demands of the farmer organisations. PM Modi has often spoken of his deep respect for Parkash Singh Badal.

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The three farm laws enacted in September have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The Centre has repeatedly asserted that these mechanisms will remain. 

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