Eager to break the deadlock with farmers who are campaigning to remove new farm laws, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership held meetings for the second day in a row on Monday and sent the message that the Union government is ready to the conversations.
Union Interior Minister Amit Shah met with Union Agriculture Minister NS Tomar earlier in the day to discuss strategy to break the deadlock. A senior party official said: “The message from above is clear that the laws are not against farmers and that farmers are being misled. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated that the laws will offer better opportunities for farmers. ”
The official said the government is ready to come to the table and discuss the new laws and “address any concerns” that farmers have.
Speaking in Varanasi, the prime minister said Monday that the laws have given farmers new options and legal protection. He attacked the opposition for “misleading” farmers and said that previous government decisions were opposed now that rumors have become the basis of the opposition and propaganda is being served despite laws favoring farmers. .
The party has also opted for a cautious and measured response to the upheaval. While he blames the opposition for provoking the protest, he is taking care not to irritate the peasants. “The farmers are innocent. They are being misled by those with vested interests. The laws have barely been implemented and their impact has yet to be determined, so how can people rush to call out these anti-farmers? ”Said Rajkuamr Chahar, director of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha.
He said Morcha’s unit in Punjab has been communicating with farmers’ representatives and conveyed the government’s willingness to address their concerns.
On Monday, even as the party tried to defuse anger against the bills, its ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), joined the chorus for rolling back the laws. Rajasthan legislator and head of the RLP, Hanuman Beniwal, sent a letter to Shah, seeking repeal of the laws.
“… .In light of the sentiment across the country in support of the ongoing farmers movement, the three recently introduced bills related to agriculture should be withdrawn immediately. (The Center must) implement all the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and immediately enter into dialogue with farmers in Delhi, ”he said.
The BJP, however, played down the ally’s demand. His national spokesperson on economic issues, Gopal Krishna Agarwal said: “We assure everyone, including our NDA partners, that the well-being and well-being of farmers is at our heart. Large-scale market reforms are needed and that has always been the consensus. ”
He added that while the BJP opposes the doubts about the dismantling of the APMC mandis and the withdrawal of the MSP, the opposition is politicizing the issue together with the Arhtiyas (commission agents) and intermediaries.
“We have offered all the basic facilities to the farmers, drinking water, toilets, shelters and medical facilities. They have been given permission to protest and have also been invited to speak. We are open to all discussions on the merits or demerits of the three bills. If farmers have certain serious concerns, we are ready to listen to them, ”he said.
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