Tamil Nadu farmers call off Delhi strike till 25 May

The development came after Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palanisamy on Sunday urged the farmers from his state to call off their strike and assured them of taking up their demands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Palanisamy made the remarks after visiting the farmers at Jantar Mantar, for the first time, on the 41st day of their protest in which they have been demanding a Rs 40,000 crore drought relief package, farm loan waiver and setting up of the Cauvery Management Board by the Centre.

“I will be taking up the issue of loan waiver among others with the prime minister while meeting him today,” Palanisamy said. The chief minister also talked about the steps the state government had taken to mitigate the hardship of farmers. “We had even submitted a memorandum comprising various demands from the state during my previous meeting with the prime minister,” he said. “Therefore, I request the protesting farmers to call off their strike.”