When Dhankhar spoke for agitating farmers, asked govt why no dialogue with them

Apart from his many public comments defending the constitutional position of separation of powers, former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar also openly spoke for the cause of agitating farmers.

Not too long ago on December 3, he took on the government for not speaking to the protesting farmers and said a nation that tests the patience of farmers pays a heavy price.

Invoking fasting Punjab farmer Jagjit Singh Dallewal, he urged the Centre to consider farmers' demands on MSP and not take a narrow view of the farm protests. The occasion was an Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) event in Delhi.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was on stage and the Vice-President, in his address, asked him, to his surprise, “Agriculture Minister Sir, every moment is critical for you. I urge you, and as the person holding the second-highest constitutional position in India, I request you to please tell me, was any promise made to the farmers, and why has it not been fulfilled? What are we doing to fulfill the promise? There was an agitation last year, and there is one this year as well, and time is passing, but we are doing nothing.”

In the midst of raging farmer anxieties, Dhankhar made very strong remarks asking the government why it was not holding a dialogue with the protesting farmers.

He said he was feeling hurt and addressing Chouhan added, “You are the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. I am reminded of Sardar Patel and his responsibility to unify the nation, which he did so excellently. This challenge is before you today and it should not be considered any less than the unity of India.”

Mentioning Dallewal’s fast-unto-death for legal backing to MSP, Dhankhar said a dialogue with the farmers should happen immediately and everyone should know if any promises were made to the farmers.

Dallewal, the head of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-political) had maintained that the government since the time of former Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had made promises to farmers, which it did not keep.

“Honorable Agriculture Minister, did the previous agriculture ministers make any written promises? If so, what happened to them?” Dhankhar asked on Dallewal's behalf.

Further drawing attention to the agitating farmers, the Vice-President said “we cannot fight with our own people and cannot put them in this situation where they are left to fight on their own”.

“We cannot hold the ideology that their struggle will be limited and they will eventually tire out. We should not disturb the soul of India, we should not hurt its heart. Can we create a boundary between the farmers and the government? Those whom we need to embrace cannot be pushed away,” Dhankhar said, referring to Dallewal, who claimed that promises made to the farmers were not fulfilled.

The former Vice-President said to Chouhan, “This is your challenge. When any government makes a promise, and it is related to the farmer, we should never leave anything incomplete."

The Vice-President also urged the government to consider farmers’ requests about minimum support price positively.

“Our mindset should be positive; we should not create obstacles by thinking that giving the farmer this price will have negative consequences. Whatever price we give to the farmer, the nation will benefit five times over… Who are those people who say that if we give our farmers a fair price for their produce, I do not understand why that would cause a disaster,” he said.

Reflecting on the broader impact of the farmer's movement, the Vice-President said it was a very narrow assessment to think that the farmer’s movement only refers to those on the streets.

“No. The son of a farmer is now an officer, the son of a farmer is now a government employee. Why did Lal Bahadur Shastri say 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'? With that 'Jai Kisan', our attitude should be the same as was envisioned by Lal Bahadur Shastri,” said the Vice-President.

Even earlier, ahead of farmers' protests from Noida to New Delhi in December 2024, he had famously said, "My doors for farmers are open 24X7".