Differences erupted among farmers unions as some of them did attend the meeting called by the Centre on Tuesday. Punjab-based farmers' body Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) on Tuesday refused to participate in a meeting demanding that representatives of all farmer unions be invited for talks. The KMSC is one of the 32 Punjab farmers' bodies invited for talks with the Centre. KMSC has demanded that several farmers’ bodies have not been invited and moreover the Prime Minister Modi is not holding this meeting.
Of the 36 farmer union leaders, 30 hail from Punjab and remaining six owe allegiance to Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and other farmer organisations from Haryana and other places.
KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said that they will not attend the meeting. "If 32 Punjab-based farmers' bodies have been invited (for talks), a committee representing around 500 farmers' organisations is also there which should have also been invited," he said. Pandher accused the government of trying to divide the protesting farmers by not inviting all the farmer unions.
"By not inviting all farmers' bodies, an attempt is being made to divide the farmer organisations. If we attend the meeting, it will be presumed that this agitation (against farm laws) is only taking place in Punjab which could be the conspiracy of the Centre," he said.
Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that these farm laws are in the interest of the farming community, Pandher said, "He (the PM) has already given his decision before the meeting. And now, no minister can go against the PM."