New Delhi: Farmers protesting three agricultural laws say they would begin demonstrating outside Parliament on July 22, part of a new push to force the government to scrap a set of legislation enacted last year. Farm unions have been holding long meetings to work out logistics and finalize strategies to intensify their agitation and coordinate movement of farmers from various states. According to a plan announced by the SamyuktKisanMorcha, a platform of farm unions spearheading the protests since November last year against the three laws, nearly 200 farmers will protest outside Parliament every day during the monsoon session.

The SamyuktKisanMorcha also said farm organisations and like-minded groups would also hold countrywide protests against rising fuel prices on July 8. Parliament is set to convene on July 19 for its upcoming monsoon session. Farm unions say they would soon dispatch a letter to all Opposition parties and lawmakers, urging them to raise the issue of the three farm laws during the entire session. Farmers on tractors are likely to file into the Capital on July 21 evening. Accommodation arrangements have been beefed up at all current protest sites. Thousands of farmers pitched tents at five sites near Delhi’s borders -- Singhu, Ghaziabad, Tikri, Dhansa and Shahjahanpur (on the Rajasthan-Haryana border) -- from where they have been carrying on their protests. The farmers have constructed a permanent weather-proof shelter for farmers arriving at the Tikri site, said Dharmendra Singh, a member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union. The farmers’ march towards Parliament is sure to be resisted by police, because demonstrations near Parliament are not allowed, setting the stage for a potential standoff.“It will be a peaceful protest. Nearly 200 protesters will demonstrate every day outside Parliament. The government is not interested in talking to farmers because the government isn’t being run by any party but by companies,” BKU leader RakeshTikait said. Cultivators from various towns and villages in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have joined those already protesting in many of sites. A large convoy arrived from PilibhitinUttar Pradesh before moving to various sites on Monday, Singh said.

“These farm laws are black laws. They must be taken back. Farmers will be very peaceful while protesting. The violence that broke out during the Republic Day in Delhi was a conspiracy to defame farmers,” said Joginder Singh Urgrahan of the BKU EktaUgrahan group, which represents a large section of farmers in Punjab.