Farmers hold up posters during a rally following the approval of agriculture bills in Lok Sabha in Amritsar on Friday. (AFP)
The BJP has criticized the rival party for “hypocrisy,” citing evidence from the 2009 and 2014 congressional manifestos that mentioned the repeal of the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC) Act.
- News18 New Delhi
- Last update: September 18, 2020 6:56 PM IST
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Much thought and calculation has gone into the Narendra Modi government’s push for “one nation, one market.” Sources say that the peasant protests were being noticed by the government but it was convinced that the agitation did not have enough popular support. The agricultural bills passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday had their first political repercussions with the BJP’s oldest ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, who left the union cabinet. The president was quick to accept the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
But the BJP is confident that it will not have much collapse in Punjab and Haryana, the two states where farmers are protesting. The party has criticized Congress for “hypocrisy,” citing evidence from the 2009 and 2014 Congressional manifestos that mentioned the repeal of the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC) Act.
Paragraph 7, sub-clause 11 of the manifesto read: “Congress will repeal the Agricultural Products Market Committee Act and will make trade in agricultural products, including export and interstate commerce, free of all restrictions.” Sub-clause 12 said: “We will establish farmers markets with adequate infrastructure and support in villages large and small so that the farmer can bring his products and trade them freely.”
However, the chief congressional spokesman, Randeep Surjewala, accuses the BJP of distorting the facts. He told News18.com: “We did not think that an APMC would help as India is a vast land. Our plan was to have many small markets or outlets where farmers could choose to sell their products. The current bill does not give the farmers this option. “
But what’s uncomfortable for Congress is a 2009 note from Raghuram Rajan, which congressional ministers incorporated into their proposal similar to bills passed by the Modi government. He wrote:
At UPA 2, many ministers like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh were open to the idea of a free market. Congress says that given the Covid-19 crisis, the bills are ill-timed and will only exacerbate farmers’ problems. The party hopes to seize the pro-farmers narrative once again and portray the BJP as “anti-farmer”, especially before the elections in Bihar and Bengal. The only thing is, the past seems to have caught up with Congress.
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