The BJP has accused Sharad Pawar and Congress of double standards (Archive)
New Delhi:
Maharashtra’s veteran leader Sharad Pawar issued a clarification today, as an old letter in which he, as the Union Minister of Agriculture, had sought reforms in the agricultural sector to attract more private participation, was summoned by the ruler. BJP.
Sharad Pawar had written to senior ministers such as Sheila Dikshit (Delhi) and Shivraj Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) asking them to amend the Agricultural Products Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in their states, BJP leaders noted, as the letter circulated. online.
“He had said that APMC needs some reforms. The APMC Law should continue but with reforms. There is no doubt that I had written the letter. But their three laws do not even mention APMC. They are only trying to divert attention. There is no need to make it important, ”said Sharad Pawar.
The head of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said that some opposition parties would take a collective position and pass it on to President Ram Nath Kovind.
“Tomorrow, five or six people from different political parties will sit down, discuss and take a collective position … Tomorrow we have an appointment at 5 pm with the president. We will present our collective position to him,” Pawar said.
Pawar’s PNC, Congress and many other opposition parties have backed protests against three new laws that farmers fear will take away their profits and leave them at the mercy of large corporations. The parties also supported at the national level Bharat bandh called today.
The BJP has accused Pawar and Congress of double standards.
At a press conference, Shivraj Chouhan read the paragraphs of a letter that he said was written by Mr. Pawar in 2011: “It is necessary to amend the APMC Act along the lines of the APMC Act model to encourage investment of the private sector in marketing, infrastructure and supply Alternate competitive marketing channels in the general interest of farmers, consumers and agricultural trade. “
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Sharad Pawar is also opposed to the new agricultural laws. But when he was agriculture minister, he wrote to all major ministers calling for ‘private sector participation’ in the market infrastructure.” .
“Opposition parties oppose the government of Narendra Modi for the good of the opposition, forgetting their own work in the past. In its 2019 electoral manifesto, Congress promised to repeal the APMC Law and make the trade in agricultural products , including export, be free of all restrictions, “said Prasad.
Farmers have been protesting across Delhi’s different borders since November 26 against the three new laws the government says are aimed at reforms: the Trade in Agricultural Products and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee. and Agricultural Services Act, and the Essential Products Act (amendment).
Talks between the government and farmers have failed to end the stalemate.
Agricultural markets are governed by the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC) laws enacted by state governments. Farmers can sell their produce at the APMC or at state markets, at guaranteed minimum prices.
Farmers say that since central law cannot alter CMPA under state law, the new laws seek to create a parallel market and legally isolate new markets from the state level.
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