AAP said the government has not made any attempt to negotiate with the protesting farmers since January 22.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept with humility farmers' invitation of talks over the Centre's agriculture laws and resolve the issue.

In a letter to the PM, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann and the party's Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha also claimed that 470 have died during the course of the agitation, which is unfortunate and painful.

“The government has not made any attempt to negotiate with farmers since January 22, which is not in the interest of farmers and the entire nation,” they added.

As farmer leaders have once again urged for talks, the prime minister should accept the invitation with humility and resume talks over the issue, resolving it permanently, they said.

The leaders said farmers are the backbone of the country and they had to protest for their demands at the cost of their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Concerned about their future, the country's farmers, including elderly, children and women, have left their homes and settled at Delhi borders, which is also against human rights,” they added.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions spearheading the protests, on Friday had written to the prime minister, urging for the resumption of talks over the Centre's farm laws, against which they are agitating at the Delhi borders since November last year.

Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government failed to break the deadlock over the three legislations.

Farmers are demanding the repeal of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and  Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

They have described the laws as pro-corporate. However, the government has maintained that the laws are for their benefit.

Source from: Times of India. (2021). AAP urges PM Narendra Modi to resume talks with farmers on agriculture laws. Retrieve from: Times of India (May 22, 2021). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/aap-urges-pm-narendra-modi-to-resume-talks-with-farmers-on-agriculture-laws/articleshow/82861689.cms