After the eight round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers over the controversial farm laws failed, the Congress has announced to hit the streets across the country from January 15 onwards to express its solidarity with the farmers. Congress delegations in every State and Union Territory will also gherao the Raj Bhawan and protest demanding the repeal of the farm laws and mark the day as Kisan Adhikar Divas.
The party’s decision to take to the streets comes after the farmer unions and central ministers talks ended in yet another stalemate on Friday. Congress’s protest will coincide with the next round of talks between the Centre and the agitating farmers next Saturday.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday instructed party general secretaries and leaders to discuss future strategy on the farmer protests following which AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal held a virtual meeting with party colleagues to discuss the ongoing farmers’ protest that has also witnessed the death of at least 60 farmers in the past month.
Party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who too participated in the meeting and agreed that though the agitating farmers have been keeping away from politicians it would be good to stand in solidarity with the farmers.
Continuing his attacks on the Centre on the issue, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi questioned the intentions of the Government. Rahul alleged that the government was working as per a planned strategy to deliberately stretch talks with protesting farmer unions.
“Neeyat saaf nahi hai jinki, tareekh pe tareekh dena strategy hai unki! (Those who don’t have a clear motive, fix new dates every time as per a strategy),” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Making the announcement of nation wide protest, AICC chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the Congress is duty-bound to stand with the farmers of the country and thus it has been decided that the party will observe January 15 as Kisan Adhikar Divas.
Surjewala said that the Narendra Modi government is “trying to frustrate and tire out the agitating farmers as part of a conspiratorial plan by giving representatives of farmer unions a new date for discussions after every round of talks… over 60 farmers have lost their lives so far during the protest and the Prime Minister has not uttered a single word of sympathy and solidarity… Narendra Modi is directly responsible for these deaths.”
In the State capitals, local party leaders will conduct rallies that will culminate with a gherao of the Raj Bhawan demanding repeal of the three farm laws.
The party’s key frontal organisation, the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), has also launched a nationwide program – Ek Muthi Mitti Shaheedo Ke Naam – “to pay tribute to the martyrdom” of the over 60 farmers who have so far lost their lives during the protests. IYC members across the country will organise a series of rallies and demonstrations to highlight the “injustice that the three farm laws will inflict upon crores of Indian farmers,” said IYC national president Srinivas B.V.
The grand old party volunteers will also “visit villages of the martyred farmers and collect a fistful of soil as a show of solidarity with the farmers.”
Congress, along with several other Opposition parties, has opposed the three farm laws when they were passed by Parliament during the monsoon session.
Ever since the Congress has maintained that the only way for the government to end the impasse with the agitating farmers is to withdraw the three legislations.h