Patiala, Aug. 3 -- In an apparent bid to defuse tensions amid mounting protests by farmers and criticism from opposition parties, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said his government will soon reach out to the public and farmers to discuss the state's contentious land pooling policy.

"This is not a dictatorship. We will do what the people and the farmers want," Mann told reporters during a visit to Gurdwara Katalgarh Sahib in Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar district, where he offered prayers accompanied by his wife and daughter.

The chief minister's statement marks the first placatory gesture from the government since discontent over the policy began to swell. Just a day earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Malwinder Singh Kang had...