Farmers protest live updates: Govt to soon hold next round of talks with protesting farmers to end stalemate, says Union minister

Intensifying their protest against the Centre's new agri laws, farmers took over some toll plazas in Haryana on Saturday, not allowing authorities to collect fees from commuters. The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties. More than 100 farmers led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leaders Malkit Singh and Manish Chaudhry gathered at a toll plaza on the Ambala-Hisar highway, around 15 kilometers from Ambala city. The BKU activists raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the farm laws.

The Congress on Saturday cited a media report to claim that 11 farmers had died in the last 17 days while protesting against the new agri laws, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi asking how many more sacrifices will farmers have to make to get the legislations repealed. At least five rounds of formal talks have taken place between the Centre and representatives of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, protesting on various borders of the national capital for over two weeks, but the deadlock has continued with the unions sticking to their main demand for the repeal of the three contentious laws. "How many more sacrifices will the farmers have to make to get the agri laws repealed?" Gandhi asked in a tweet in Hindi, tagging a media report which claimed that 11 protesting farmers had lost their lives in the last 17 days due to various reasons such as ill health or a mishap.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the government is committed to ensuring the welfare of farmers and protecting their interests, as thousands of farmers continued protests for the 17th straight day against three new farm laws to overhaul procurement and sale of produce.Speaking at the 93rd annual general meeting (AGM) of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), PM said recent farm reforms will give farmers new markets and access to technology, and help bring investments that will benefit the farming community.