| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Farmers' protests: No date set for next meeting as talks end yet again in deadlock The government's negotiations with protesting farm unions hit a roadblock today as the farmer leaders stuck to their demands for a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP, while the Centre insisted that they consider its proposal for putting the Acts on hold for 12-18 months. Unlike the previous 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting as the government also hardened its position, saying it is ready to meet again once the unions agree to discuss the suspension proposal. This followed a climb down made by the Centre during the last round, when they offered to suspend the laws and form a joint committee to find solutions. According to one of the union leaders, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar ended the meeting by saying that there was no deficiency in the law, but the Centre had still made a proposal respecting the farmers. Yet the farmers had been unable to take a decision. "If you reach a decision, inform us and we will discuss again," the Minister was quoted as saying by the union leader. "At the end of the meeting, the Agriculture Minister told us that this is the government's best proposal, and they had nothing further to offer," said Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch leader Kavitha Kuruganti after a meeting that lasted more than four hours, but only had Ministers and union leaders in the same room for about 20 minutes. Tomar said the farmer unions have been asked to revert by Saturday if they agree to the government's proposal for putting the laws on hold and forming a joint committee to reach a solution, after which the talks can continue. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader P. Krishnaprasad said that one of the reasons that they decided to reject the government's proposal was that they received legal advice that the Centre had no power to stay or suspend a law passed by Parliament. Lawyers told the AIKS that the government could ask the Supreme Court to stay the implementation of laws, or take them back to Parliament and get a repeal law enacted. Only Parliament could either amend or repeal a law. The legal advice received was that the government proposal to suspend the law for 18 months had no legal validity, he said. Nevertheless, a number of Punjab unions argued during their internal meeting on Thursday that it would be better not to reject the Centre's proposal outright. One leader said the final vote among the Punjab unions was a close 17-15 in favour of rejecting the proposal. Some leaders felt the unions should be willing to compromise in response to the government's concession. However, others noted that any sign of compromise could be seen as a betrayal by the tens of thousands of protesters gathered at Delhi's borders for the last two months demanding a repeal of the three laws. Tractor rally to go ahead as planned on Republic Day: Union leaders Meanwhile, farmer leaders said on Friday that their proposed January 26 tractor rally will take place on Delhi's busy Outer Ring Road as decided earlier, after the 11 round of talks with the government ended in a deadlock.  Tractors sit in a trolley at the farmer protest site in Singhu border, New Delhi on January 22, 2021. Coming out of the meeting, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said it is for the government to ensure that the rally is peaceful. "Tractor march on January 26 will take place as decided by us on Outer Ring Road. We have informed the police that it is for the government to ensure that it should be peaceful," Rajewal said. Bihar Police make 'offensive' social media posts against govt a cyber crime Bihar is set to witness action under cyber crime law against individuals and organisations for "offensive comments" against the government, its officials, ministers, MPs, MLAs and officials. Nayyar Hasnain Khan, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Economic Offences Wing, which also handles cyber crimes, said in a letter written on January 21 to all Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of departments, "It has regularly been coming to light that certain persons and organisations have been making offensive comments through social media and Internet against government, honourable ministers, MPs, MLAs and government officials as well, which is against prescribed law and comes under cyber crime laws. For this act, it seems appropriate to take action against such organisations and individuals".  A copy of the letter written by Nayyar Hasnain Khan, Inspector General of Police (IG), State Economic Offences Wing He further stated, "You all are requested to inform the Economic Offences Wing with details about any such act so that suitable legal action could be taken against those organisations/individuals after investigation". Reacting to the move, Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav dared Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to send him to jail under the new cyber law for "exposing" the "wrongdoings" of the government on social media. On social media, Yadav said, "As many as 60 scams happened during Nitish Kumar's regime. Nitish Kumar is Bhishm Pitamah of corruption, patron of hardened criminals, and weak head of an illegal and immoral government". He also tweeted to say that the police in Bihar "sell liquor and save criminals while implicating innocent people". RJD leader and party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, "This government has become intolerant towards criticism by the media and other people. It's an arbitrary move and a sign of nervousness, and we'll oppose such a move by the government". Subsequently, the State police said that "constructive criticism is welcome and only those posts on social media which spread rumours and use offensive and defamatory languages would be targeted under relevant cyber laws". Congress to get new party president in June; CWC demands JPC into Arnab WhatsApp chats The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday deferred a decision to elect a new party president until June, even as it adopted three resolutions, including one demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into Republic TV promoter Arnab Goswami's WhatsApp chats. Explaining the reason for the delay, party general secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said though the central election authority had suggested May, it was deferred in the wake of Assembly elections to Assam, Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Another issue that needed clarity was whether the election of CWC members (12 out of 25 are meant to be elected) should be held along with the party president or later, once the new President took charge, Venugopal said.  Congress leader Sonia Gandhi The other two resolutions were about backing farmers' organisations in the 'decisive' fight against the farm laws, and expressing gratitude to scientists for developing Covid-19 vaccine in record time. In her opening remarks to the CWC, party president Sonia Gandhi touched upon all the issues that were adopted as resolutions and accused the government of a "deafening silence" over the WhatsApp chats. Referring to the ongoing talks between the Centre and farmers, she said, "The agitation of farmers continues and the government has shown shocking insensitivity and arrogance going through the charade of consultations". Now, Bengal Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee resigns West Bengal Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee on Friday resigned from the Cabinet. "I regret to inform you that I hereby tender my resignation from my office as Cabinet Minister being in charge of Forest Department on today, i.e on 22 January 2021," read his resignation letter sent to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee is the third to resign from the Council of Ministers in the past two months. Former Trinamool heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who held several portfolios, including Transport, resigned from the Cabinet in December 2020 and joined the BJP. Former Indian cricketer and Sports Minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigned a few weeks ago but has not cleared speculations about his political future.  West Bengal Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee resigned on Friday. File Banerjee has been going public with his differences with the party over the past few months. Not only was he absent from several Cabinet meetings but also spoke out against favouritism in the party. On January 16, he took to social media, saying he was going through a test of patience. He had told sources close to him that he would remain active in politics. Speculations are rife that he will join the BJP. BJP State president Dilip Ghosh said Banerjee was still a Trinamool MLA and he should quit the party before joining the BJP. Over the past few months, about 10 MLAs have left the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,06,34,283 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,54,477. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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