Kharge, Rahul to attend Kisan Maha Chaupal

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will interact with farmers and address them at the party’s ‘Kisan Maha Chaupal’ organised in Bhopal on Tuesday to protest the interim trade agreement between India and the United States.

Extensive preparations have been made for the event to be held at Jawahar Chowk in Bhopal, with functionaries visiting villages to explain how this agreement is against the interests of cultivators and the country, party leaders said on Monday.

MP Congress president Jitu Patwari, LoP in the assembly Umang Singhar, and former Union Minister Arun Yadav, along with other party leaders, released videos on various social media platforms, appealing to farmers and the general public to attend the ‘Maha Chaupal’.

In one such video, Patwari said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signed a trade agreement with America by putting a sword to the neck of Indian farmers. Against this, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will strengthen the farmers’ fight at the Kisan Maha Chaupal in Bhopal on Tuesday.”

Singhar, while making a similar appeal, alleged that prices of crops like cotton, soybean, maize, and mustard are falling after the India-US trade agreement.

“The promise of doubling income remains unfulfilled; farmers are in debt and distress. When the State is celebrating the ‘Farmer Welfare Year,’ why is attention being diverted from the real issues of farmers?” he asked while describing the ‘Maha Chaupal’ as a decisive battle for farmers’ dignity and rights.

Earlier, Congress MLAs protested in the assembly over the issue, calling it a “threat” to farmers. They claimed the agreement would severely impact agricultural markets and the rural economy.