The Opposition parties have announced to call on President Ramnath Kovind on Wednesday to apprise him of the situation arising out of farmers' protest over the farm laws.
The joint delegation of five members will include Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and others, said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury. The Opposition parties had last met and requested the President not to give his accent to the controversial laws which has now become an Act.
NCP president Sharad Pawar said leaders from different political parties will discuss and take a collective stand on the contentious farm laws before meeting President Ram Nath Kovind.
"Leaders from different political parties (those opposing the farm laws) will sit, discuss and take a collective stand on the contentious farm laws before meeting President Ram Nath Kovind," said the former Agriculture Minister.
Pawar also met Defence Rajnath Singh on Tuesday though the meeting was pertaining to discussions on land acquisition for the Purandar airport in Pune district.
Earlier in the day former Congress president Rahul Gandhi urged people to support the Bharat Bandh call given by farmer leaders and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop "stealing" from farmers.
Congress and almost 15 Opposition parties are supporting the farmers' agitation and they have demanded a repeal of the three farm laws.
"Modi ji, stop stealing from farmers. All fellow citizens know that today is Bharat Bandh. Make our food growers' struggle successful by fully supporting it," Rahul said in a tweet in Hindi.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are the Opposition parties who supported the farmers' protest and the 'Bharat Bandh' called by various farmer organisations .
These parties are likely to be part of the memorandum to be submitted to President Kovind.
Congress said it was not against farm sector reforms, but the ones brought in through the three recent laws did not reflect those changes, and demanded that these legislations be scrapped by convening a special session of Parliament.
Senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said agriculture reforms should be discussed afresh in Parliament and new laws enacted after consulting all stakeholders.
Hooda also said the Minimum Support Price mechanism needs to be incorporated in the law because it is a must to protect the interest of farmers.
He alleged the farm laws brought in by the centre were passed without any consultation with farmers, and that the government pushed them through as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the country.
"The government must immediately scrap the three farm laws and convene a Parliament session to discuss reforms in the agri sector," Hooda said at AICC Press conference.