India / 60 tractors will head to Parliament on November 29: Rakesh Tikait

New Delhi: As many as 60 tractors will head to Parliament in the national capital as part of a tractor march, which will be organised by farmer unions on November 29 (to conincide with the beginning of the winter session of Parliament), to press for their demand for a statutory guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait announced on Tuesday.

"The tractors will go through the roads, which have been opened by the government. We were accused of keeping the roads blocked. We did not block the road. Blocking the roads is not our movement. Perhaps, our movement is to talk to the government. We will straight go to the Parliament," Tikait told news agency ANI.

The statement comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that the Centre will repeal the three contentious farm laws that triggered nationwide farmers' protest. The Union cabinet is expected to take up the farm law repeal bill for clearance today and it is likely to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Tikait also announced that at least a thousand people will head to the Parliament to press for the MSP law among other issues.

"We are awaiting the government's response on MSP. Moreover, the incidents that happened in the past one year, in which 750 farmers died, the government should take responsibility for that," the BKU leader told ANI.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, that have been at the forefront of the year-long protests, in an official statement said that tractor rallies will also be organised in state capitals distant from Delhi.

"Preparations are underway for marking November 26, 2021, on the completion of 12 long and continuous months of struggle by lakhs of farmers in India - Thousands of farmers are expected to come to the morcha sites on that day around Delhi," SKM noted, adding that the day will also be celebrated as a “partial victory” of their movement.

"Solidarity events" are also being planned across the world by the Indian diaspora as well as international farmers' organisations, SKM informed.

Parliament's winter session will commence on November 29 and is expected to continue till December 23.