Farmers Protest: Centre, Farmers To Hold Fresh Talks Today; Will The Stalemate End? Top Developments

The farmers took out a mega tractor rally in the national capital to press their demand for the complete rollback, whereas the Centre asserted it is ready to consider any proposal other than their repeal.

Sonipat: Farmers on their way to Tikri border during a tractor rally as part of their ongoing protest against the new farm laws, at Western Peripheral Expressway in Kundli, Sonipat, Thursday, Jan. 07, 2021. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)(PTI01_07_2021_000145A)

Farmers' Protest: The ongoing protests of farmers have entered its 44^th day on Friday but a breakthrough still eludes it. The agitating farmers unions will be meeting the Centre for eighth round of talks, as both sides look for a resolution to the over one-month-long deadlock. However, both the parties remained fixed at their positions till Thursday. The farmers took out a mega tractor rally in the national capital to press their demand for the complete rollback, whereas the Centre asserted it is ready to consider any proposal other than their repeal. Here are the top developments: Govt ready to consider any proposal except repeal of farm laws:  Tomar Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said the government is ready to consider any proposal other than repeal of three farm laws, the key demand of the farmers. Farmers hold tractor rally, say it's 'rehearsal' for Jan 26: A day ahead of the next round of talks with the Union government, thousands of farmers protesting on the Delhi borders organised a 'tractor march' on Thursday amid tight security, describing the event as a "rehearsal" for a similar roadshow proposed on January 26 to oppose the three new Central farm laws. Youth Congress to pay tribute to deceased farmers on Friday: The Youth Congress has planned to pay nationwide tribute to the farmers who had lost their lives during the protests under the programme 'Ek Diya Shaheedo Ke Naam' at 6 pm on Friday. Noida: 15 UP farmers sit on hunger strike against farm laws: 15 farmers from western Uttar Pradesh districts sat on a hunger strike here, even as the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha's tractor rally witnessed participation of thousands of protesters in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Thursday. Rumours about some states being allowed to opt out of new laws: As both sides looked for a resolution to the over one-month-long deadlock, rumours about some states being allowed to opt out of the central laws started doing the rounds, but the agitating unions said they had not received any such proposal from the government. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar too answered in the negative when he was asked about the same. What happened in previous talks: The latest round of talks to be held at Vigyan Bhavan at 2PM on Friday is crucial as the previous meeting on January 4 remained inconclusive with both sides sticking to their positions. There was some breakthrough in the sixth round of talks on December 30 when the government conceded to two demands of the agitating farmers pertaining to power subsidy and stubble burning. The previous rounds of talks had failed to make any headway.