Navjot Singh Sidhu today called on his party government in Punjab to buy the crop at the minimum subsistence price.
Congressional leader Navjot Singh Sidhu today called on his party government in Punjab to buy crops at the minimum subsistence price to bring relief to farmers. Sidhu, who shared the stage with Congressional Leader Rahul Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, said apple growers in Himachal Pradesh received similar relief.
“If Himachal Pradesh can buy apples, why can’t we buy crops, why can’t we give them MSP?” Said Mr. Sidhu.
The congressional leader called the enactment of agricultural laws an “attack on the federal structure” by the central government.
Earlier, congressional deputy Rahul Gandhi took part in the protest and promised farmers that his party would scrap the controversial agricultural sector laws once he comes to power in the Center. Calling minimum price support, food purchases and wholesale markers the “three pillars” of the country, Gandhi said “Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to destroy this system.”
“Their sole objective (of the BJP) is to destroy the MSP and purchase food … Congress will never allow this government to do so,” he added, pointing to the three-day farmers’ tractor rally in Punjab.
The “Kheti Bachao Yatra” (March to protect the agricultural sector) aims to highlight the position of Congress against the laws passed by parliament last month amid fierce protests from the opposition.
Farmers and the opposition claim that the new laws, which allow them to sell products to companies anywhere in the country, expose them to exploitation by large companies. They also say that with the entry of private actors into the agricultural sector, they will not get even the Minimum Price of Support for their products.
The protests against the two laws are the loudest in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, the country’s cereal bowl. The vehemence of their protests has cost the BJP an ally ~ CHECK ~ the Shiromani Akali Dal, who left the government and the NDA last month.
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