Narendra Modi’s Point-by-Point Rebuttal to the Narrative Against Farm Laws Shatters Lies to Pieces

Archive image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AND ME

Much has been written about Narendra Modi’s communication skills, her ability to connect with the masses, and her public speaking. On Friday, all of his strengths were on display when he delivered a one-hour virtual speech to farmers. It was originally intended for farmers in Madhya Pradesh as part of the Kisan Mahasammelan program, but the prime minister’s speech ended up being a point-by-point rebuttal to the dubious narrative against farm laws and political opposition against reforms.

It was also clear that the prime minister was injured. His speech was passionate, forceful, categorical and emphatic, giving us an indication of two things: first, the pressure on Modi and second, his determination not to step back in the implementation of the reforms.

Modi had done her homework and it showed. He went after the opposition parties with aggression, accused them of fabricating lies around the reforms and exploiting the credulity of farmers for their political gain, cut the confusion and tore the lies to pieces.

He also gave a step-by-step account of all the measures taken by his government to improve the lives of farmers and increase their income, and presented a series of statistics to back up his claim. Modi also made it clear that while the BJP government at the Center and himself will do their best to listen to farmers’ questions, allay their fears and address their doubts, the farm bills will not be reversed.

It is a huge declaration of intent by a political leader amid the rudeness of India’s electoral politics, where the accepted wisdom is to play it safe rather than upset the apple cart. Modi, however, has never been a status quoist prime minister. He has taken his term as an order from the electorate to implement bold reforms and deliver on the promises the BJP had promised in its manifesto, and the swiftness and determination with which it has carried out the promises has even caught the opposition. by surprise. Modi’s willingness to spend considerable political capital implementing tough reforms at the cost of upsetting some interest groups, including alienating an influential and powerful section of the farming community, gives further proof that he is a taker of money. risks and does not get carried away by the unwritten. Indian policy rule of playing it safe and consolidating winnings.

In Friday’s speech, where Modi explained how the three counter farm laws will serve farmers’ interests by offering them more options without taking anything away from the existing procurement mechanism, the prime minister adopted a two-pronged strategy. He first attacked the Opposition for misleading a sector of farmers who have been protesting since November 26 and tried to expose the Opposition’s duplicity by highlighting how his government has implemented the Swaminathan Report, gave more money to farmers through MSP and acquired more cultures through the mechanism compared to the UPA 2 regimen.

For example, he noted that while the previous government had bought around 1,700 lakh metric tons of rice from farmers in five years (from the UPA-2 regime), the BJP government in its first five years bought 3,000 lakh tons metric rice to farmers. . “Our government has not only increased the MSP, but has also bought a lot from the farmers in MSP. Its biggest advantage has been that more money has flowed into farmers’ accounts than ever, ”he said.

He also noted that, unlike in the past, money owed to farmers goes directly to their bank accounts without being subject to leakage or ‘culture cut off’. Among many other examples the prime minister gave, another was on pulses, detailing how the country that was forced to import pulses to meet its demand in 2014 has now become self-sufficient, farmers are also getting more money, prices too. have gone down. Modi also launched a scathing attack on Congress for retracting his words on waiving farmers ‘loans and pointing out that this has become a convenient tool for the Opposition to exploit farmers’ credulity which mostly results in unkept promises.

If one part of Modi’s speech tried to present statistics and show how the Opposition distorted the truth, the second part tried to allay farmers’ fears and do everything possible to assure them that the MSP and APMC system – the biggest flash point in protests – it won’t be dismissed or stopped.

By calling the narrative about the ‘end of MSP’ the “biggest lie in history,” Modi issued a categorical guarantee that MSP will not be dismissed or detained. He noted that the law has been in effect for the past six months. The government has not stopped acquiring crops under the MSP mechanism, nor has a single mandi been closed anywhere in India.

Finally, the prime minister also stated that contract farming has already been a norm in many states, and the laws are framed in such a way that the interests of farmers are protected, not the interests of companies, however, he assured farmers that the government is willing to dispel all doubts about it, if any persist.

Today’s speech showed that Modi can be a combative street fighter and lead the attack on the Opposition. Winning the hearts and minds of skeptical farmers and building trust will be a long process, but the Opposition has gotten the message.