Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday tore up copies of the three contentious farm laws in the legislative assembly, against which tens of thousands of farmers are protesting near the national capital. He said that he cannot betray the farmers.

Addressing the Delhi Assembly, the AAP chief accused the BJP of bringing in the legislations for their own electoral funding and not for farmers.

“I am pained that I have to do this. I did not intend to, but I cannot betray the farmers of my country who have been sleeping on the streets in the cold when the temperature is just 2 degrees Celsius,” Kejriwal said as he tore up the copies of the three laws.

“I am a citizen of this country first, a chief minister later. This assembly rejects the three laws and appeals to the central government to meet the demands of farmers,” he said.

The chief minister further asked the government when it will “wake up”, and said 20 farmers had already died in the protest.

Kejriwal said the Centre should not be under the impression that the farmers will simply return to their homes. In 1907, a farmers' protest had continued for nine months till the British rulers repealed some laws, he said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it would put together a panel, which may include experts like P Sainath and representatives of the government and farmers' bodies to look for the resolution of the deadlock over the statutes.

“We acknowledge the right of farmers to protest but it has to be non-violent,” the bench, comprising justices SA Bobde, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said.