Centre has insulted farmers, says Ajit Pawar

As the impasse between the Centre and farmers protesting the contentious farm laws drags on, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said on Monday that the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had “insulted farmers” by not yielding an inch despite nine rounds of parleys. “The Centre’s apathy towards resolving farmers’ issues is evident in its attitude towards the protests against the new farm laws…why is it that even after a frustrating eight or nine rounds of talks, the stalemate is not being broken? Clearly, the Central government is not interested in understanding farmers’ problems,” said Mr. Pawar, ahead of a tenth round of parleys between the Centre and the protesters on Tuesday.