Abhay Singh Chautala, who quit as the lone MLA of his party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), last week in protest against three contentious Central farm laws was today honoured at the farmers' mahapanchayat held in his former constituency, Ellenabad, in Haryana's Sirsa.
The 57-year-old had earlier on January 11 submitted a letter in which he had said that if the Centre didn't repeal the laws by January 26 then it ought to be considered as his resignation from the state assembly. He had slammed the Centre for imposing the "black laws" on farmers in an "undemocratic way".
Like most parties from the agrarian northern belt, Mr Chautala had been under pressure to demonstrate his allegiance to the farmers protesting the laws.
Speaking to the huge crowd of protesting farmers in Ellenabad today, he invited the farmer leaders to Sirsa for the next mahapanchayat.
"We await the next announcement by the Kisan Morcha. Whatever decision you take in this matter, we will back you fully," Mr Chautala said. "During the chakka jam tomorrow, we will ensure that not a single vehicle from Rajasthan enters Haryana," he said.
Last month his father and party chief, Om Prakash Chautala, a former Haryana Chief Minister, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to scrap the laws.
The former Chief Minister's grandson, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, too had said last month that he too would quit if unable to secure farmers a guarantee for minimum support price, which is one of their two core demands. Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party, with its 10 MLAs, helped the BJP to power after the October 2020 election.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26, 2020, against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
