Updated: December 17, 2020 7:57:55 pm
Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal rips the copy of the new agricultural laws in the Delhi Assembly on Thursday. (PTI photo)
In a show of solidarity with the restless farmers, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with other MLAs from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), tore copies of the Center’s three new agricultural laws in the Assembly on Thursday. The AAP government also passed a resolution in the Delhi Assembly seeking the repeal of agricultural laws.
Addressing the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal claimed that the laws “have been drawn up for the electoral funding of the BJP and not for farmers.” “It hurts me to have to do this. It was not my intention, but I cannot betray the farmers of my country who have been sleeping on the streets in the cold when the temperature is only 2 degrees Celsius, ”Kejriwal said.
“First I am a citizen of this country, then a prime minister. This assembly rejects the three laws and appeals to the central government to meet the demands of farmers, “he said.
CM @ArvindKejriwal rips up the copy of the Center’s agricultural invoices at the Delhi Assembly.
We refuse to accept these agricultural laws that go against our farmers. #KejriwalAgainstFarmBills pic.twitter.com/rBrcc67sRz
– AAP (@AamAadmiParty) December 17, 2020
“What was the rush to get farm laws passed in Parliament during the pandemic? It has happened for the first time that three laws were passed without a vote in Rajya Sabha. I hereby break the agricultural laws in this assembly and appeal to the Center not to become worse than the British, ”Kejriwal said while breaking a copy of the agricultural laws.
Referring to the issue of the death of farmers sitting at a protest near the Delhi borders, Kejriwal said: “I want to ask the Center how many sacrifices farmers will have to make to make their voices heard. Every farmer has become Bhagat Singh. The government says they are reaching out to farmers and trying to explain the benefits of Farm Bills. UP CM told farmers that they would benefit from these bills as they would not take away their land. Is it a benefit? “
He said the Center should not be under the impression that farmers would simply return home. In 1907, a farmers’ protest continued for nine months until British rulers struck down some laws, he said.
UT Transport and Environment Minister Kailash Gahlot presented a resolution in the legislature to repeal the Center’s three new agricultural laws.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi called Kejriwal a “U-turn expert and champion of bluff politics.” “Arvind Kejriwal puts chameleons to shame when it comes to changing color in seconds. After notifying one of the agricultural laws in Delhi, he broke the copies of the laws in the Delhi Assembly today, ”he said.
Thousands of farmers have been campaigning against the new farm laws on Delhi’s borders for the past 22 days demanding that they be repealed. Many AAP leaders, including CM Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, had joined the farmers’ fast on Monday.
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