Farmers’ organisations from Punjab, who had gone to Delhi on Wednesday after the Centre invited them for talks to address their concerns over the new farm laws, walked out of the meeting when they found that no minister was present.

With neither agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar nor his junior present at the meeting convened by the ministry, the representatives of 29 farmers’ organisations left Krishi Bhavan and shouted slogans and tore copies of the bills on the lawns.

Farmers across the country have been protesting against the bills that the Narendra Modi government steamrollered through Parliament. The protests have been the loudest in the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana.

Modi has insisted the bills favour farmers and his government invited them for talks.

“No proper discussion took place. Neither Union agriculture minister nor junior ministers were present to hear our concerns. We asked why the minister is not meeting us…. There was no proper response,” Darshan Pal, member of the coordination committee of 29 farmers’ organisations, said later.

Agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal was chairing the meeting, he said.

Most of the participants were senior citizens who had arrived in Delhi by bus from Punjab amid the pandemic.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal termed the minister’s absence from the meeting an “insult” to “annadatas”.