Slogans in Parliament as the Prime Minister speaks about agricultural laws.
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the motion of thanks in the president’s speech was overtaken by angry opposition protests when he mentioned farm laws today. After a major altercation, Congress and the Trinamool Congress withdrew when the Prime Minister said that the cry of slogan “was a planned strategy to stifle reason and hide the truth.”
The protests started when the Prime Minister, after talking about Covid 19, switched to agricultural laws and said: “This government and Parliament respect farmers and will always continue to respect them.”
The opposition, which has torn him apart in the past two days over comments such as “Andolanjeevi” and “parjeevi (parasites)” made during his last speech, erupted in protests. When President Om Birla repeatedly called on members to calm down, Prime Minister Modi said: “Agricultural laws will not bring down any farmers. No mandi have been closed or minimum support prices have been stopped.”
“Minimum support prices have been increased after farm laws were formed. Also, farmers can now sell their produce wherever they want,” he added.
Admitting that change “will always raise doubts,” he tagged it with the mockery “andolanjivi,” which was adopted as a badge of honor by many in parliament, including P Chidambaram in Congress.
“Today we see the Andolanjeevis ruin the peaceful protest of the Andolankaaris. We should all know the difference. Holding placards of Naxals, terrorists, and those in jail for harming the nation amid peaceful protests by farmers, right? Are you hurting the farmers’ cause? ”he added in what looked like an excavation at Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Ms Badal, a former minister who resigned from Prime Minister Modi’s cabinet over agricultural laws, delivered a fiery speech in parliament yesterday.
There were strong words for Congress, which the BJP has repeatedly accused of instigating farmers. “No matter how hard you try to sabotage it, you won’t, because the truth is out there, that farmers have lost nothing since the laws came into force,” Prime Minister Modi said without naming Congress.
Then he added: “Today’s Congress is a confused and divided party. It has come down to that. Such a confused party cannot help the country or anyone … You want to shout inside Parliament, as you do outside.” So please go ahead, but hiding behind lies will never get you anywhere.
On Monday, Prime Minister Modi had defended his government’s policies on farmers and, citing predecessor Manmohan Singh, had accused Congress of turning the agricultural reforms 180 degrees.
Today, he said that the reforms are “essential.”
“Due to the increasing population, the land is divided with each generation. Chaudhary Charan Singh-ji had once said that at this rate, we are not far from a day when a farmer does not even have enough land to turn his tractor. The small farmer needs help and we must help him, and that cannot be done without reforms ”, he added.
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