Updated: September 23, 2020 7:29:24 am
Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Opposition to the bill is for the sake of politics.”
Union Minister and BJP Senior MP Ravi Shankar Prasad talks to Liz Mathew about contentious agricultural bills and opposition protests in Parliament.
There is a deadlock in Rajya Sabha, with the Opposition demanding changes to agricultural bills to keep the House running smoothly. How do you plan to break it?
There is no stagnation. Rajya Sabha ran today and passed Bills. But what led to this situation? They spent four hours of debate on the Bills. From then on, according to the norm, a consensus was reached to expand the Chamber because the minister was responding to the debate. They began to object. The Presidency made 13 requests to the Opposition to return to their seats to move the statutory resolution. So what happened was unheard of: the microphones broke, the cables ripped, some MPs jumped on the table, someone threw the rule book at them, and a leader broke the rule book. Had it not been for the bailiffs’ intervention, the vice president would have faced physical harm. We have a majority in the House and it was 110 to 72 in the bill. They knew they would have lost. That day the most shameful behavior took place.
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On the second day, President Venkaiahji (Naidu) suspended the deputies under Rule 256 on which there is no debate. Once the order has been approved, the deputies would have to withdraw. But you didn’t do that. You humiliate, insult and try to physically harm the vice president and challenge the president who is the vice president of India. The most disturbing part is the behavior of Congress.
But the Opposition has made demands on the Bills to return to the House.
The opposition to the bill is for political reasons. Congress in its 2019 manifesto had said it would streamline the Mandi Act and create a space for farmers to sell their products anywhere. The same is said in his Punjab manifesto. Contract farming was launched by your Haryana government in 2007. We did the same. Regarding the MSP, we have made it very clear, it is already announced and we are the first government to grant a 50 percent increase as recommended by the Swaminathan Committee.
With these bills, 86 percent of farmers have been given the freedom to sell their products everywhere. We have launched e-Nam. Around 1.6 crore of farmers have registered and transacted above Rs 1 lakh crore. During the confinement, the lychee from Bihar was sent to London, the pineapple from Tripura, for which they get Rs 5 here, get Rs 15 in Dubai and Mumbai. Do you want to deny this to farmers? The law is very clear in this bill: they cannot be deprived of land ownership, mortgages, or leases. The sponsors will take responsibility. Are you not empowering farmers?
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The prime minister has said that the MSP will not be withdrawn, nor will the mandi provisions be withdrawn. This empowers farmers, and the prime minister explained that the initial response to the ordinance was overwhelming.
You were talking about the manifesto of Congress. In 2012, the late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj fiercely defended the arhtiyas, saying that there is a relationship of trust between them and the farmers, and that they have been the farmers’ ATM. You say you have removed them?
Didn’t you see Kapil Sibal’s speeches? When we want to double farmers’ income, we want to have time-tested initiatives after good research. Research says 86 percent of farmers are small and marginal and should be given exposure and good prices, and that’s what we’re doing.
Many opposition parties have demanded that the bill be sent to a select committee. Why couldn’t the government agree to that? The government could use it to resolve disputes.
We can’t agree that the committees just linger. We do not want farmers to suffer.
But in Parliament, doesn’t the ruling party have to try to bring everyone in?
The answer is simple: we have had inquiries. We cannot have opposition parties playing politics.
Not only the opposition parties, their ally and the groups affiliated to RSS are not convinced either.
The ally has its own state compulsions. We have already spoken with Parivar and our distinguished colleagues. There may be some compulsions in Punjab politics. But this initiative seeks reforms to empower farmers. Let’s not deny the larger narrative.
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You speak of One Nation One Market that gives freedom to farmers. But won’t farmers benefit if there are many markets in small towns and cities?
One Nation One Market just means Punjab farmers can sell in Tamil Nadu and Bihar. That is the access we are giving you.
If the government is giving guarantees on MSP, why can’t it be part of the bill?
MSP is an administrative decision, as we made on Monday. The price commission recommends it and is part of the commitment. The prime minister said so. Look at our history for the last six or seven years. We are the first party to say that the recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission would be followed.
But what prevents you from making it part of the government? Was one of the demands to make private parties pay at least the MSP?
If a farmer receives more than the MSP, does he want to chain him? No farmer will sell their produce for less than MSP. Farmers, for so many years, sell only if they get more than the MSP. We are committed to MSP staying.
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Another argument about the bills concerns the balance of power when it comes to contract farming. Farmers fear that bureaucrats favor business.
Our commitment is with the farmers. You should see our record: we have covered 10 million farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme. Have we not made fertilizers available to all farmers? See how we have freed farmers from the raj license fee.
Considering convening a meeting of all parties?
I cannot comment on this. The bill was passed after an elaborate discussion.
What is the party’s assessment of its impact on the Bihar elections? Do you think the perception created would harm the BJP?
Look at the behavior of Harivansh, a respected leader, in the morning. He went to the protesting MPs to have tea with them. He is a Gandhian, a socialist and a man of humble origins from the town of JP. The way he was humiliated at the House has upset the people of Bihar.
Many protests are being sponsored by those who will be affected, Congress and the Opposition. But our commitment to farmers remains, and once people realize the reality, the Opposition will be exposed.
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