Former Union Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has slammed the Centre on the linking of farmers' protest with Khalistan and Maoist elements and questioned that if it were so why was the government holding talks with protesters.

"Ministers have described the protesters against the farm laws as Khalistanis, agents of Pakistan and China, Maoists, and 'tukde-tukde' gang. If you exhaust all these categories, it means there are no farmers among the thousands of protesters. If there are no farmers, why is the government talking to them?" he tweeted.