On December 8, 2020 farmers’ union of north India have called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ which is expected to reverberate across states that are main producers and growers of agricultural crops. Since November this year, farmer unions have been protesting against the three farm laws cleared by the government during the previous September Parliament session such as- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020. Farmer unions in Punjab and Haryana say the recent laws enacted at the Centre will dismantle the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. They argue that over time big corporate houses will dictate terms and farmers will end up getting less for their crops. Farmers also fear that with the virtual disbanding of the mandi system, they will not get an assured price for their crops and the “arthiyas” – commission agents who also pitch in with loans for them – will be out of business. So the key demand of the farmers is the withdrawal of the three laws which deregulate the sale of their crops. The farmer unions could also settle for a legal assurance that the MSP system will continue, ideally through an amendment to the laws. The opposition have been demanding that the government convene parliament in order to discuss the issue as it is a subject of urgent national interest. However, the Modi government has been playing with assuring words to the effect that it is willing to talk things over with the farmers and clear their misgivings. Despite numerous assurances by the government, including by prime minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and others, that the laws will empower farmers, the protesters are unconvinced and have been demanded that the laws should be rolled back. According to official sources, the Modi government was working on fine-tuning its response to the issues raised by farmers, and ensuring that they are addressed to the satisfaction of all. Days ahead of the nationwide bandh called by protesting farmers against the three acts, several political parties and other organisations such as Bank Employees Association extended their support to the bandh. Till the, the Modi government was reacting to the farmers and when opposition parties lent their support, the BJP trained its guns on them. The BJP accused opposition parties of opportunism in raising farmers’ issues particularly the erstwhile UPA alliance parties. It alleged that the UPA during 2010 and particularly Sharad Pawar of the NCP had proposed amendments to Agriculture Marketing Produce Market Committee(APMC). However, NCP responded saying it was brought about by the previous Vajpayee government and that Pawar had only sought suggestions for betterment and not privatisation of APMC. The farmers demand are not totally unreasonable as the government’s stand which means that both need to come down from their pedestals and hammer out a solution. The government should also look at the issue purely from its political perspective but from a broader point and even be willing to amend or repeal its three laws. At a time when the economy is not doing well and people are still suffering from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, the government must accept that it alone holds the key to resolving the dispute.