TMC will raise issue of law on MSP in Parliament: Mamata assures Punjab farmers

Chandigarh: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday assured protesting farmers in Punjab that her party will raise the issue of giving legal guarantee for MSP in the upcoming session of Parliament. The assurance came after a five-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) met the farmers at Khanauri border point in Punjab. Banerjee told the protesters that the TMC will "always stand for justice for farmers".

The delegation comprised TMC national spokesperson Derek O'Brien, Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Dola Sen, Sagarika Ghose, and Saket Gokhale, who all are Rajya Sabha MPs. The West Bengal CM interacted with farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal over the phone. Banerjee told him that during the upcoming Parliament session, her party MPs will raise the issue of a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

"Today team @AITCofficial in a 5 MP delegation visited farmers protests in Khanauri border. Our leader @MamataOfficial spoke via phone to farm leaders to assure them that @AITCofficial will always stand for justice for farmers. Jai Hind. Jai Kisan," Ghose posted on X after the meeting. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) leader Abhimanyu Kohar said the TMC delegation was at Khanauri in Sangrur district for an hour. "They went to the spot where tractors were damaged and Shubhkaran Singh had sustained bullet injury.

They spoke with farmers," he said, referring to the clash with the police in February on the border point with Haryana. Kohar said farmers gave a memorandum to the TMC delegation, seeking that their demands be raised in Parliament. The SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the 'Delhi Chalo' march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands which include that the Centre should give a legal guarantee for MSP for crops.

The farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their march was stopped by the security forces. Shubhkaran Singh, 21, a native of Bathinda, was killed and 12 police personnel sustained injuries in clashes at Khanauri on February 21. The incident took place when some protesting farmers were trying to head towards barricades and were stopped by security personnel from crossing the state border and marching to Delhi.