Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that for the Modi Government, crony capitalists are “best friends” and protesting farmers are Khalistanis. His attack on the Government comes at a time when thousands of farmers have been protesting for more than two weeks on the borders of Delhi, demanding withdrawal of three new farm laws.
“For Modi Govt: Dissenting students are anti-nationals. Concerned citizens are urban naxals. Migrant labourers are Covid carriers. Rape victims are nobody. Protesting farmers are Khalistani. And crony capitalists are best friends,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.
Farmers are protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Central Government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
Senior Congress leader and a former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, asked the government to repeal the new agri laws, which have sparked protest by farmers, and bring in a fresh bill after reaching an agreement with the agitating peasants. The farmers’ agitation against the three agriculture laws has reached almost a month, with many of them sitting in the cold and blocking traffic on the national highways around Delhi.
“Government should climb down from its high horse and reach an agreement with the farmers quickly,” Chidambaram said on Twitter. “The simple way forward is to Repeal the present laws and Re-enact a new law based on the agreement. Repeal and Re-enactment is a well-known legislative tool,” he also said.
The former finance minister said it is obvious that any agreement between farmers and the government will necessarily require a new bill to be passed by Parliament. “It is shocking that after 20 days of farmers’ protests in the bitter winter of Delhi, the government continues to stick to the ‘no repeal’ stand,” he also said.
Opposition parties have also appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to intervene and ensure the laws are withdrawn. The Government has been defending the laws, saying they will open new market avenues for farmers and raise their incomes, besides ushering in new technologies in the sector.