Farmers’ unions threatened to step up their stir in Haryana on Friday if the government did not agree to their primary demands of repealing the three new farm laws and a guaranteed MSP for crops in the January 4 talks while the Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar maintained he was hopeful of a “positive outcome” at Monday’s scheduled discussions.

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, farmer leaders warned of multiple actions if their main demands were not met. They said that only five per cent of the issues raised by them had so far been discussed in meetings with the government.

"If the January 4 meeting with the government fails to end the deadlock, we will announce dates for shutting all malls, petrol pumps in Haryana," farmer leader Vikas told reporters.

Farmers protesting at Shahjahanpur on the Haryana-Rajasthan border would also move towards the national capital, Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said. Another leader Yudhveer Singh said that a tractor march would be held on January 6 if no concrete decision was arrived at in the next round of talks.

After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.

On Friday, agriculture minister Tomar said he was hopeful of a “positive outcome” on January 4, but refrained from predicting whether the seventh round of talks would be the last one, saying he was not an astrologer.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar during the sixth round of talks with farmers on Thursday, in Delhi. PTI

Speaking to PTI, the minister said that the last meeting held on December 30, 2020, happened in a cordial atmosphere and there was a possibility of positive results in the interest of farmers and of the country's farm sector at the next meeting.

On farmer unions sticking to their demand for the repeal of the three farm laws and rejecting the government's proposal to suggest alternatives, Tomar said: "We will see."

Asked whether he expected the January 4 meeting to be the last one, the minister said: "I cannot say for sure now. I am not an astrologer. I am hopeful that whatever decision would be arrived at (in the meeting) will be in the interest of the country and of the farmers. (Ekdam to abhi kuch kah nahi sakta. Bavishyavakta to main hoon nahi. Lekin mujhe asha hai ki jo bhi faisla hoga, desh ke aur kisan ke hit mein hoga).”

After the last talks between three union ministers and a 41-member representative group of the thousands protesting on Delhi borders, Tomar had said at least 50 per cent resolution had been reached with mutual agreement on two out of four items on the agenda and discussions would continue on the remaining two on January 4 at 2 PM.

Some common ground was reached on two demands -- decriminalisation of stubble burning and continuation of power subsidies -- but no breakthrough has been reached so far on the two main demands of the protesting farmers -- repeal of the three farm laws and legal guarantee of MSP procurement system.

Protesting farmer unions have, however, upped the ante ahead of the meeting by threatening to intensify their agitation if the government did not agree to their main demands for the repeal of the laws and a legal guarantee to MSP.

In a statement, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) said, "Farmers have one demand, that is, repeal of three laws. ...Acceptance of two minor issues is a cover of rigidness on repeal."

The agitation by thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh has been on across Delhi’s borders for over a month now.

The government has presented these laws as major agriculture reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations have left them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.