The central government is set to meet with protesting farmers for the third time on Wednesday. The meeting is likely to take place in Chandigarh. Earlier, two meetings were held between the Modi government and the farmers, but no resolution was reached. During the second meeting, the Union Agriculture Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was present, but the deadlock remained. Consequently, farmers have continued their protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri border areas of Punjab and Haryana for more than a year.

Before the meeting, farmers’ organizations are expected to hold internal discussions on Monday or Tuesday. On Saturday, they made it clear that if the third round of talks does not result in a resolution, they will not participate in any future talks called by the Modi government. The upcoming meeting is crucial, as it could determine the future course of the farmers’ movement.

In a related incident, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait narrowly escaped a major accident. His vehicle collided with a nilgai while traveling on the Muzaffarpur-Mirpur bypass in Uttar Pradesh on Friday evening. Fortunately, the airbags deployed in time, preventing any injuries to Tikait.