Farmers blocked roads and train tracks to protest what the government calls a massive reform measure
New Delhi:
Sonia Gandhi today called on states governed by Congress to consider enacting laws to override the center’s farm laws, which have sparked mass protests from farmers in some parts of the country. Punjab, ruled by Congress, is the epicenter of protests against the three controversial laws and its chief minister, Amarinder Singh, held a sit-in today, joining the farmers’ cause.
“The Honorable President of Congress has advised the states governed by Congress to explore the possibilities of passing laws in their states pursuant to article 254 (2) of the constitution that allows state legislatures to pass a law to negate the laws anti-agriculture centrals that encroach upon the jurisdiction of the state under the constitution, “Congress said in a statement.
“This would allow states to circumvent the unacceptable anti-farmer provisions in the three draconian farm laws, including the abolition of the MSP (minimum support price) and the discontinuation of CMPAs in states governed by Congress. This would also alleviate the farmers from the grave injustice committed by the Modi Government and the BJP, ”the party said.
The constitutional rule Sonia Gandhi refers to allows a state legislature to enforce laws “repugnant to the law of parliament,” if they win presidential approval. In 2015, then-Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had advised states to use the same route to avoid a land acquisition law passed by the previous government led by Congress.
The agricultural bills, which were passed in parliament amid much controversy over the vote in Rajya Sabha, are now laws and were approved by President Ram Nath Kovind last night. The ruling BJP has lost its key ally Akali Dal from Punjab, where farmers make up a significant portion of voters.
Farmers have blocked roads and railways to protest what the government says is a massive reform measure. This morning, a tractor burned down at a protest near the India Gate in Delhi, one of the most protected places in the country.
The government says the new laws give farmers the option to sell their produce to private buyers while still buying staples such as rice and wheat at the Minimum Subsistence Price. But this has failed to reassure farmers who fear that they will lose their bargaining power and that large retailers will control prices.
Amarinder Singh had said on Sunday that his government would explore the possibility of amending state legislation to protect farmers from the consequences of the three controversial laws.
“What they (the central government) have done is anti-national,” said the Chief Minister, protesting in the ancestral village of the iconic freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Punjab.
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