Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi I @INCIndia | Photo credit: Twitter
Key points
- Our opposition is very weak, said the BKU leader.
- The visit of the former head of Congress comes two days after meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind.
- Various opposition leaders are pressuring the Center to withdraw the contentious laws
New Delhi: Congressional leader Rahul Gandhi reportedly left for Italy for a short personal visit on Sunday amid an ongoing protest by farmers against the Center’s farm laws.
Congressional spokesman Randeep Surjewala confirmed that Gandhi will be out of India for a few days, but did not reveal his destination.
“The leader of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, has gone abroad for a short personal visit and will be away for a few days,” the PTI said.
The former head of Congress reportedly departed for Milan in Italy on a Qatar Airways flight in the morning. Gandhi’s grandmother lives in Italy and he also visited her before.
The Congress leader’s visit abroad comes at a time when several opposition leaders are putting pressure on the Center to withdraw the controversial laws against which thousands of farmers have been protesting at various borders of the national capital for almost a month .
Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena, a congressional ally in Maharashtra, said the opposition under the big old party cannot give an advantage to the farmers’ agitation.
In reaction to Gandhi’s visit, the leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rakesh Tikait, said that the congressional leader did not visit the protest site or speak with them.
“Rahul Gandhi did not appear anywhere in the farmers’ dharna nor did he speak to anyone … Our opposition is very weak,” he said.
Rahul’s Attack on the Center for Farm Laws
The Congressional Party and its leaders, especially Gandhi, have addressed the Center for three agricultural marketing laws and extended their support to agitated farmers.
On Thursday, the congressional leader met with President Ram Nath Kovind as part of his party’s delegation and urged that a session of Parliament be convened to repeal the three farm laws.
Earlier, the former head of Congress had said that accepting anything less than the complete withdrawal of “black farm laws” would be a betrayal of India and its farmers.
Several farmers from Haryana and Punjab and other states have been protesting at various border points in Delhi for more than four weeks, insisting on the repeal of the Center’s three laws. They have expressed fear that contentious laws will weaken the existing government’s support for the agricultural sector, a charge rejected by the Center.
So far, the Center has held five rounds of formal talks with farmers’ representatives to resolve the problem of three farm laws, but the stalemate has continued with unions sticking to their main demand to repeal the laws.
A new round of talks is scheduled for Tuesday.
