Congress invoked Bhagat Singh, whose birth anniversary was celebrated today, during the protests, and the Prime Minister of Punjab. Amarinder Singh participated in a sit-in in the ancestral village of the freedom fighter.
The prime minister said his government would approach the Supreme Court on agricultural laws and warned that Pakistan’s ISI could exploit anger over the new laws to foment problems in the border state.
Protests also took place in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat, Goa, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, where the DMK and its allies, including Congress, took to the streets.
DMK chief MK Stalin said his party was ready to challenge the new laws in court.
Kerala was preparing to address the Supreme Court against the laws and the government of Tamil Nadu should do the same and if this does not happen, “we (DMK), as an opposition party, are ready to go to court in name of farmers and the people, “Stalin said, while addressing the protesters in the Kancheepuram district.
Congressman from Thrissur, Kerala, TN Prathapan on Monday filed a motion with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the 2020 Farmer Price Guarantee and Agricultural Services (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement, one of three contentious agricultural laws notified by the government.
Live updates: protests against farm laws
MDMK chief Vaiko, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Chairman KS Alagiri, DMK leaders TR Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran were among those who participated in the protests held in separate locations.
Demonstrations were held in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli, among other places in the state.
Five people claiming to be members of the Punjab Youth Congress were arrested after unloading a tractor from a truck in the Rajpath high security area, a few hundred meters from the House of the President and Parliament, in the national capital. , and start it up. fire around 7am.
“On the anniversary of #BhagatSingh’s birth, the Youth Congress set fire to a tractor in protest against the government’s anti-farmer bills,” the Indian Youth Congress tweeted.
Our country thrives on the blood and sweat of our farmers. From fighting the British to feeding the entire nation,… https://t.co/97GY1C8000
– Youth Congress (@IYC) 1601267115000
The BJP lashed out at Congress for the incident, saying it has “embarrassed” the country with its “drama” aimed at getting publicity and “fooling” farmers.
BJP Secretary General Bhupender Yadav called Congress “anti-farmers”, saying that farmers revere their agricultural machinery and will not set tractors on fire.
About 100 Gujarat Congress workers, including the chairman of the state party, Amit Chavda, and members of the National Liberation Army Baldevji Thakor and CJ Chavda, were detained in Gandhinagar during the protests.
In Lucknow, the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Congressional Committee (UPCC), Ajay Kumar Lallu, and other party workers were arrested during the protest.
The opposition led by Congress has argued that the laws will make farmers vulnerable to exploitation and will lead to the elimination of the Minimum Subsistence Price (MSP) system.
They also criticize the way these bills were passed in Parliament.
The Center has argued that the laws would benefit farmers, as they would have the freedom to choose buyers for their products and obtain a remunerative price. He also stressed that the MSP system will remain.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said Congress “has been trying to do politics on behalf of farmers and has unmasked itself.”
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he will fight the Center’s new “malicious” agricultural laws in a constitutional and legal manner, stating that he will do whatever it takes to protect farmers.
“I have said that we will take this matter forward. The president has approved these bills and now we will take this matter to the Supreme Court,” Singh said after paying tribute to Bhagat Singh on his 113th birthday at his ancestral place Khatkar Kalan in SBS Nagar District.
“There has been peace in Punjab, but when you try to take someone’s food, they will not get angry. It becomes the ISI’s target. That is why I say that everything they have done is anti-national,” he said later. he told reporters.
He said that “with unrest among farmers spreading to other states, the entire nation would be exposed to the threat of ISI.”
AICC Secretary General in Charge of Punjab Affairs Harish Rawat announced a signature drive starting on October 2 to collect two million signatures from farmers against the new agricultural laws and these will be presented to the president of the India on November 14.
In Lucknow, police detained members of the student wing of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party as they tried to march towards the prime minister’s residence.
The Haryana Congress held a protest outside the party’s state headquarters in Chandigarh, claiming the laws will make farmers “dependent” and leave them at the mercy of large corporations.
A delegation made up of Haryana Congress Head Kumari Selja, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Party State Affairs headed by Vivek Bansal, other senior leaders presented a memorandum to Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya which was addressed to the President .
The leaders of the Telangana Congress and the new AICC in charge of party affairs in Telangana Manickam Tagore were arrested when they tried to address the Raj Bhavan from an adjacent government guesthouse. They were later released by the police.
President Ram Nath Kovind has consented to all three farm bills – Draft Law on Trade in Agricultural Products and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation), 2020, Agreement for the Guarantee of Prices and Agricultural Services (Empowerment and Protection) for Farmers, 2020 and Draft Law on Essential Products (Amendment), 2020.
Meanwhile, farmers’ organizations backed by various other social and political groups organized protests across Karnataka on Monday against amendments to the Karnataka Land Reform Law and the Law of the Agricultural Products Marketing Committee passed by the Karnataka Assembly. .
The convening of a bandh from the Karnataka Raitha Sangha (Karnataka Farmers Association) and other farmers’ organizations was supported by Congress, JD (S), Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and left-wing parties.
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