Navjot Sidhu argued that states should pay MSP to farmers.
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu’s differences with Punjab’s chief minister Amarinder Singh made his presence felt at a public meeting today attended by Rahul Gandhi. Sharing the stage with the Chief Minister and Mr. Gandhi at the rally, intended to protest against the Center’s new agricultural laws, Mr. Sidhu argued that if the Center stops paying Minimum Support Prices to farmers, the state should do so .
“If Himachal Pradesh can buy apples, why can’t we buy crops … c give them a minimum price support? If the Punjab government can provide MSP to farmers, we will be self-sufficient,” Sidhu said.
The state government “should step up to help farmers,” added the former minister who switched camps from the BJP to Congress in 2017.
Farmers have been very concerned about the minimum price of living, which they fear will be eliminated by new laws that allow them to sell directly to businesses and even contract farming.
“If we don’t fight these black laws, everything will go to the hands of Ambani and Adani, who will come with great lawyers. I don’t know how farmers will cope then,” he added, echoing farmers’ fear of being unequal. to deal with large corporations.
“The central government wants to take away our secured income and it is an attack on the federal structure,” Sidhu said.
Punjab, he said, made 5 billion rupees last year through kisan mandis, or wholesale bookmarks. “Our ancestors have built these mandis. The Center is robbing us of our rights,” he said.
Amid protests over farm laws, the BJP-led central government announced an increase in the MSP last month, a month ahead of schedule. The hiring dates have already been advanced.
Congress is holding a three-day “Kheti Bachao Yatra” (March to protect the agricultural sector) that aims to highlight the position of Congress against the laws passed by parliament last month amid fierce opposition protests. .
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