Senior farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal ended his 131-day-long indefinite hunger strike on April 6, 2025.
He had begun the fast-unto-death on November 26, 2024, to press for his demands of a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for crops and other issues.
The announcement came at a Kisan Mahapanchayat organised at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab.
“You (farmers) all have asked me to end the fast unto death. I am indebted to you for taking care of the agitation. I respect your sentiments. I accept your order,” news agency Press Trust of India reported as Dallewal saying while addressing the farmers’ gathering.
Dallewal, however, said he would continue leading the protest over their demands.
The announcement came a day after Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu appealed to Dallewal to end his fast.
Protesting farmer leaders from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Centre have been holding meetings since February 14 in Chandigarh. Since then, two more round of talks have taken place.
“The ongoing process of talks between the representatives of the Government of India and the representatives of farmers’ organisations regarding their demands is continuing. Farmer leader Shri Jagjit Singh Dallewal has now returned from hospital and we wish him a speedy recovery. We also request him to end his hunger strike and we will meet with the representatives of the farmers’ organisations for talks at 11 am on May 4 as per the already decided date,” Chouhan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on April 5.
The last round of the talks was held on March 19 with Chouhan, who said the government was committed towards farmers’ welfare.
The Union government first started having a dialogue with the protesting farmers in January, after which Dallewal started receiving medical aid at the Khanauri protest site, while continuing with his fast.