The Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying to the farmers of the country and said that the ruling party is behaving like the Kauravas of the Mahabharat and the grand old party is standing with the farmers who are fighting like Pandavas.
Addressing a press conference outside Parliament, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “When a man is sitting on the constitutional post of the Prime Minister, then he should avoid speaking lies and also not befool people.”
He said, “Unfortunately I have to say that the Prime Minister is lying to the farmers of the country, he is anti-farmer, anti-labour and he is attacking the farmers of the country.”
Firing a salvo at the Prime Minister, Surjewala said, “Why is Modi hatching a conspiracy to end the minimum support price for farmers through a Bill?”
The Congress leader said that neither Modi nor Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar have agricultural land, they don’t know anything about farming but both of them are teaching farming to the farmers of the country.
The Congress leader’s remarks came a day after the Lok Sabha on Thursday, through a voice vote, passed two controversial legislations — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. It has already passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.
The three bills will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha and become law after the Upper House also passes them.
Tomar moved the Bills in the Lower House on Thursday and assured all members that farmers will be able to get better prices for their produce and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement system will continue.
Slamming the government Surjewala said, “Now the game is set, on the one hand BJP is standing as Kauravas of the Mahabharat and on the other side the farmers are standing as Pandavas. And the Congress is with the Pandavas in this fight.”
Surjewala said that now the allies of the BJP also have to decide on their stand on these anti-farmers Bills — whether its the AIADMK, the SAD, the Janata Dal-United, the YSR Congress, the TRS and others.
On Thursday evening, Minister for Food Processing and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal had resigned over the Agriculture Bills.