Bhubaneswar: A five-member delegation of the ruling-Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday met the farmers sitting on dharna at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar following threats from them to gherao the Odisha Assembly on March 21.
Alleging neglect by the State government, the farmers, under the banner of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan, have been staging protest in the city since March 12.
BJD MLA Arun Shaoo said the delegation discussed the problems of the farmers and assured steps to resolve those.
"We held discussions with the satyagrahis (protesting farmers) and assured them to take up their issues with the government. We will try our best to resolve them," he said.
Akshay Kumar, national coordinator of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan, on the other hand said the association will gherao the State Assembly (as decided) if the government will not listen to their demands.
"We will gherao the Assembly if Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik does not announce about discussing our demands in the ongoing Assembly session by 12 noon tomorrow," he reiterated.
Their demands include Rs 5,000 per month to nearly 36 lakh farmers of the State, remunerative price for crops and loan waiver among others.