Kerala will be exempted from Tuesday's nationwide bandh called by farmers

Thiruvananthapuram: With the first phase of Kerala local body polls to be held on December 8, the farmers in the state will not take part in the nationwide bandh called by the all India Kisan Coordination Committee in protest against the Centre's new farm laws.

Kerala Karshaka Sangham state secretary K N Balagopal and Karshaka Congress state president Lal Varghese Kalpakavady said alternative modes of agitation will be organized in Kerala on that day.

UDF convenor M M Hassan said that the workers of the front will express solidarity with the farmers agitation while actively taking part in the local body polls. The LDF has also taken a similar stand.

LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan said that a formal decision will be taken on Saturdays. With the BJP opposing farmer’s agitation, its workers will be fully engaged in the poll related activities.

Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner V Bhaskaran said that there were no plans to make any changes in election schedule or other arrangements in view of the bandh.

Upping the ante, farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws on Friday announced a Bharat bandh on December 8 and threatened to intensify their agitation and block more roads leading to the national capital if the government does not accept their demands.

The farmers stuck to their demand that the Centre call a special session of Parliament to repeal the new farm laws, adding that the protestors do not want amendments but their scrapping.

Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the BJP-led central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and scrap the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.