BJP selling farmers' rights to corporate houses through farm laws: TMC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also spoke with the farmers over the phone and expressed her solidarity with their agitation, a party statement said. She tweeted earlier in the day, "14 years ago on 4 Dec 2006, I began my 26-day hunger strike in Kolkata demanding that agricultural land cannot be forcefully acquired. I express my solidarity with all farmers who are protesting against draconian farm bills passed without consultation by Centre #StandWithFarmers." The TMC supremo was then an opposition leader during the Left Front rule in the state.

Banerjee had on Thursday threatened to launch a country-wide agitation if the "anti-farmer" farm laws were not withdrawn. In a statement, the TMC said that Brien spent a few hours meeting various groups of farmers who have parked their tractors and other vehicles on a highway at Delhi's Singhu border with Haryana.

"The CM spoke to the farmers. Four telephone calls to different groups from Haryana and Punjab. They shared their demand (Centre must repeal farmer bills) with the Bengal CM and thanked her for her solidarity. They also expressed their gratitude for all her support to farmers and land movements in the past," the statement said. Banerjee also said that she will stand by the farmers in this movement to repeal the farm laws, it added.

Senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleged that the new farm laws are "unconstitutional" and were passed to help the corporate houses. "We demand that these laws be withdrawn. These laws were passed not to help the farmers but were done to help the multinational and corporate houses. The intention of the BJP is to sacrifice the interest of the farmers to serve its own interest," she told reporters here.

She also said that the TMC will launch a country-wide movement if the farm laws were not withdrawn. Marathon talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions on Thursday failed to end the standoff over the new farm laws as the protestors refused to budge on their demands and another round of discussions will be held on Saturday in a bid to forge a resolution.

The government side, led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, assured the group of nearly 40 farmer leaders that all their valid concerns would be discussed and considered with an open mind, but the other side stuck to their demand of repealing the three "hastily-passed" farm laws, saying there were several loopholes and deficiencies. Agitating farmers had on Wednesday demanded that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament and repeal the new farm laws as they threatened to block other roads in Delhi and "take more steps" if it failed to do so.