Tensions between farmer unions and the state government escalated on Saturday after a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving the farmers’ pending demands ended in a stalemate, prompting union leaders to announce an indefinite protest— a ‘pakka morcha’—outside the residence of Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan at Sandhwan village from August 5.A high-level meeting convened between farmer representatives, state government officials and the local administration failed to produce any consensus on the unions’ long-pending grievances, leading leaders to walk out and announce the escalation.By choosing to gherao the Speaker’s residence, farmer unions signalled their intent to put direct pressure on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Sandhwan represents the Kotkapura constituency in Faridkot district, and unions said his residence had been picked precisely for its political significance in mounting pressure on the state leadership. From August 5, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, senior farmers leader said, the farmers  would erect semi-permanent structures and tents outside the residence and continue the sit-in until their demands were formally accepted in writing.Among the core demands are the implementation of the pending state relief packages for agricultural losses, firm assurances on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement arrangements, and resolution of local irrigation and administrative issues that have remained unaddressed despite repeated representations to the district administration.The announcement comes even as farmer unions continue their separate, ongoing dharna outside the Punjab Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) in the district, where protesters have been camping for several days over the cooperative bank’s handling of loan and recovery issues affecting farmers. Union leaders said the PADB protest would continue alongside the new agitation at the Speaker’s residence, with both forming part of the same larger campaign against what they called the government’s failure to address the farming community’s concerns.