Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar welcomes Sharad Pawar's statement on farm laws

Pawar, a former Union Agriculture Minister, said as quoted by NDTV, "As the Centre has cleared the law, now the state, before passing these laws, should discuss the contentious points and take a decision. I don't think it will come up in a two-day session of the Assembly.

"If it does, then it should be discussed. There is a group of ministers that is working on this. If they come up with relevant changes in this law, then there is no need to bring a resolution against the farm laws."

Agreeing with the view as a member of the Centre, Tomar said the government is open to discussing the issues which are problematic.

After the Union Minister virtually weaponised Pawar's statement, Maharashtra minister and NCP leader, Nawab Malik, said the Centre is wrongly interpreting his boss' comment.

Pawar was talking about Maharashtra's farm laws and not the ones enacted by the Narendra Modi government, said Malik as per Economic Times.

Pawar's comment has assumed significance as his party is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, as an opponent of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Over the last several months, questions were also raised over the stability of the state government, run by disperate forces, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

Farmers mainly from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana have camped along the borders of the national capital since Nov 26, 2020, protesting against the agricultural reforms which they fear would leave them at the mercy of big corporate houses.

Though the central government held several rounds of talks with the representatives of the protesters, the agitating farmers demanded a complete roll back of the laws.