Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleged that the BJP-led Haryana government has lost the trust of the people
New Delhi:
On Tuesday, Congress said it was not against the agricultural sector reforms, but those introduced through the three recent laws did not reflect those changes, and demanded that these laws be removed by convening a special session of Parliament.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, leader of Congress and former chief minister of Haryana, said agricultural reforms should be discussed again in Parliament and new laws enacted after consulting all stakeholders.
His claims even came as farmers held a “Bharat Bandh” on Tuesday to press for his demand to repeal all three laws.
Mr. Hooda also said that the Minimum Support Price mechanism should be incorporated into the law because it is essential to protect the interests of farmers.
He alleged that the farm laws introduced by the center were passed without consulting with farmers, and that the government pushed them forward as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country.
“The government should immediately scrap the three agricultural laws and convene a session of Parliament to discuss reforms in the agricultural sector,” he told a press conference.
“We are not against the reforms, but the current laws should be repealed and a new reform process should start after discussions and consultations with all stakeholders,” he said.
Mr. Hooda also asked why the government did not agree with the opposition’s demand to introduce another law to punish those who buy agricultural products under the MSP.
Mr. Hooda also alleged that the BJP-led Haryana government has lost the trust of the people and the assembly because it “mishandled” the farmers’ agitation and should therefore face a vote of no confidence.
“I wrote to the governor demanding the immediate convocation of the Haryana Assembly, as the current BJP government in the state has insulted the farmers,” he said.
The former prime minister also emphasized that the Congressional manifesto in 2019 promising the abolition of the APMC Act was being “misrepresented” by the BJP.
“We had promised to create supply centers and mandis near the farmers areas. We created such mandis and centers, some even in my own village in Haryana, which has a small population of 10,000,” he said.
On Haryana, he said that Congress will present a motion of no confidence against the government of Manohar Lal Khattar, which “has lost the trust of the people and also of the MLA”, as a large number of them supported the farmers’ protest.
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