NEW DELHI: Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reiterating that the new farm laws are beneficial to farmers, Congress said on Sunday that the insistence on support for the legislation shows the government is “drunk on power” and rigid even to the reconsider the laws.
The opposition party also demanded that Prime Minister Modi immediately announce the suspension of the three “anti-agriculture” laws.
“The stubbornness, arrogance and rigidity of the prime minister in dealing with 62 crore of Indian farmers and farm workers is manifested in his insistence today on the ‘Mann ki Baat’ that the three laws against farmers, against agriculture , were forcibly passed in illegal and unconstitutional, by Parliament, they are correct, “said Congress’s chief spokesman, Randeep Surjewala, at a press conference at AICC headquarters here.
“For the prime minister to say that these three laws are absolutely correct when lakhs and lakhs of farmers are sitting around Delhi waving, demanding its withdrawal, shows that the Modi government is drunk with power and that Prime Minister Modi does not care about the well-being of Indian farmers and agricultural workers, “he said.
It shows that a government “drunk on power” is rigid even as it re-contemplates and reconsiders the three “black laws against agriculture.”
Surjewala’s remarks came hours after Prime Minister Modi, in his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ broadcast, claimed that these reforms have opened the doors to new opportunities for farmers and granted them new rights.
Modi also said that farm laws have started to mitigate farmers’ problems in a short period of time since their enactment in September, as he cited the example of a Maharashtra farmer who used his provisions to get money from a merchant. he had promised but not paid. on time.
Surjewala also criticized the Union Interior Minister, Amit Shah, for attending a political event in Hyderabad, but did not immediately approach farmers.
“If the Indian Home Minister has time to travel 1,200 km to Hyderabad to attend a public meeting, why doesn’t Amit Shah have time to drive 15 km to the borders of Delhi and talk to the agitated farmers? Agriculture has released a date of December 3 before which no conversation can be held, if they have consulted an astrologer for that purpose, “said the leader of Congress.
Posing several questions to the Modi government, Surjewala asked why “12,000 FIRs have been filed against farmers” and why there is no dialogue with them.
Accused the BJP leaders and chief ministers calling the farmers “terrorists” and asked why selected television channels “aided and instigated by the Modi government are willing to show that 62 crore farmers are anti-national”.
Surjewala argued that the three agricultural laws amount to ending the minimum support price mechanism, which, according to him, “will be a death sentence for the interests of farmers.”
“Prime Minister Modi wants to negotiate the farmers’ interest on the altar of four or five crony capitalist friends and ensure that the Rs 20-25 crore commodity market is controlled by his four or five crony capitalist friends “he claimed.
“But the prime minister has bitten off more than he can chew because when 62 crore farmers rise in unison, the ‘darbar of Delhi’ will be overthrown and that is not a warning, it is a challenge for the prime minister,” he said .
Congress demands that Prime Minister Modi immediately announce the suspension of the three anti-agriculture laws and that the “12,000 cases” against farmers be dropped unconditionally, Surjewala said.
He said that Haryana Prime Minister and Prime Minister Manohar Lal Khattar should apologize for the treatment of farmers and the Prime Minister should speak personally with the farmers’ delegation.
After spending another night in the cold, thousands of farmers continued to protest against the Center’s new farm laws on the fourth day in a row Sunday by staying at the Singhu and Tikri border points, and the farmers’ leaders deliberated on their future course of action on proposed talks with the government.
The three agricultural laws are: Trade and Trade in Agricultural Products (Promotion and Facilitation); The Price Guarantee Agreement for Farmers (Empowerment and Protection); Y Agricultural services and essential commodities (amendment).
Farmers say they fear the laws will pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them “at the mercy” of large corporations.
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