With the farmers agitation now in its sixth week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi launched a tirade against the Center on Sunday, saying it was for the first time since Independence such an “arrogant” government that it had come to power that it cannot see the sufferings of ‘annadatas’. In a statement, Gandhi demanded that the new agricultural laws be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally.
The congressional supreme said it was now clear that protesting farmers would not bow to the Center’s policy of “tired and easy prey.” “There is still time, the Modi government must leave the arrogance of power and immediately withdraw the three black laws unconditionally to end the agitation of the peasants who die of cold and rain. This is Rajdharma and a true tribute to the farmers who have lost their lives, ”Gandhi said.
अब भी समय है कि मोदी सरकार सत्ता का अंहकार छोड़कर तत्काल बिना शर्त तीनों काले कानून वापस ले और ठंड में दम तोड़ रहे किसानों का आंदोलन समाप्त कराए। यही राजधर्म है और दिवंगत किसानों के प्रति श्रद्धांजलि भी।
कांग्रेस अध्यक्षा, श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी का वक्तव्य। pic.twitter.com/foCFMbuqXm
– Congress (@INCIndia) January 3, 2021
“Along with the people of the country, I am also concerned to see the condition of the ‘annadatas’ who have been agitating for 39 days on the borders of Delhi amid the cold and rain in support of their demands,” Gandhi said.
More than 50 farmers have lost their lives due to “government apathy,” he said, and some even took the step of committing suicide.
“But neither the ruthless Modi government relented nor the Prime Minister nor any other minister uttered a word of comfort until today. I pay my respects to all the deceased farmer brothers and ask the Lord to give their families the strength to endure this pain, ”said the head of Congress.
“Since independence, this is the first government so arrogant to come to power in the history of the country that, leaving the people alone, they cannot even see the sufferings and struggles of the ‘annadatas’,” Gandhi said.
The president of Congress claimed that securing profits for a handful of industrialists had become the main agenda of this administration. Congress has been seeking repeal of the three new farm laws, claiming they will ruin agriculture and farmers.
The government and farmers’ unions are scheduled to meet on January 4 to decide on demands to repeal the three recently enacted farm laws and the provision of a legal guarantee on the minimum purchase support price.
At its last meeting on December 30, the Center agreed to “decriminalize” stubble burning by excluding farmers from the scope of the ‘Commission for the Management of Air Quality in the National Capital Region and the Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020 ‘, and remove those provisions from the draft. Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020, which aims to change the existing mode of payment of subsidies to consumers.
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