Consider letter as resignation if Centre fails to withdraw Farm laws by Jan 26, Chautala tells Haryana assembly speaker

PTI, Jan 11, 2021, 5:12 PM IST

INLD legislator Abhay Singh Chautala wrote to the Haryana Assembly speaker on Monday, saying if the Centre does not withdraw the three recent farm laws by January 26, then his letter may be considered as his resignation as an MLA from the House. In a letter to Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, Chautala, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA from Haryana’s Ellenabad, slammed the Centre for imposing the “black laws” on farmers in an “undemocratic way” and said the farming community in the entire country is opposing these legislations.

A farmers’ agitation against the laws has been going on for over a month and the protesting farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders in the cold weather conditions, he pointed out. More than 60 farmers have “attained martyrdom” because of the intense cold weather but the Centre has paid no heed to their demands, Chautala wrote in the letter.

Despite holding eight rounds of talks with the farmer leaders, the government has not shown any sign of agreement on the withdrawal of farm laws, he said. The INLD leader said it does not seem that being a responsible member of the House, he can play any role to protect the rights of farmers under the kind of conditions created by the government.

“Considering all these situations, if the government of India does not withdraw these three ‘black laws’ by January 26, then this letter should be considered as my resignation,” he wrote to the speaker. A couple of days ago, Chautala had said he would resign from the Assembly if the demands of the farmers were not accepted by the Centre by January 26.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are camping at three border points of Delhi — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for more than a month now, demanding a repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.