Reaffirming her party's commitment to the cause of the farmers, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that her party would stand firm against anti-farmer land Acquisition Bill and continue to protest against it. While addressing mediapersons on Thursday, Sonia said, "The current land Bill is anti-farmer. We will strongly protest against it and are firm on it." Notably, she had been leading the Opposition against the said legislation.
She asserted that at present the Congress is not in power but the party will struggle for them (farmers) and will not compromise on the issue. The Congress president demanded that the land acquisition law enacted by the erstwhile UPA Government and supported by the BJP in 2013 be implemented.
Sonia, who visited a number of villages battered by unseasonal rain and hailstorm that led to large-scale destruction of crops in Madhya Pradesh, demanded that the BJP Governments at the Centre and the State help the farmers without any discrimination. After surveying damaged crops in a number of villages, she told media persons, "I ask the Modi and Shivraj Singh Chouhan Governments not to discriminate and help the farmers." Empathising with those in distress, she alleged, "The farmers have suffered a lot and till date neither a survey of affected fields has been done nor have they got any compensation."
While meeting the farmers in a village, she said, "Though we do not have a Government in Madhya Pradesh, we are with you. We will fight for your rights and ensure that you get due compensation." The farmers also showed her the ravaged isabgol (psyllium husk) and other crops and narrated their ordeal. In the morning, she met the affected farmers in about a dozen villages. Notably, the Congress president walked half-a-kilometre in the ravaged fields to see for herself the devastation caused to the standing crops at Madavada village.