An old interview of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been surfaced online in which the leader was seen criticising the then opposition for opposing changes in the APMC Act.
In 2020, the Congress is now at the opposite side questioning the Agriculture Bill which has been passed by the Parliament two days back leading to a backlash from the opposition parties.
In the interview, which is of April 2014, the Congress leader is seen attacking BJP for not allowing the amendments in the APMC Act.
It was in reference to a move taken by the Congress government in which all Congress-ruled states delisted fruits and vegetables from the APMC Act to lower prices.
Rahul Gandhi had contended that the cause of inflation is the wastage of fruits and vegetables due to unnecessary storage. He said that it is required to connect the farmers with the food processing units.
He said the opposition BJP has been acting as a barrier in this process.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing rift among the political parties due to the agriculture bill had said that the Bill is for the welfare of the farmers and those who ruled this country for decades are attempting to mislead them.
“Farmers have been given new independence in agriculture. They’ll now have more options and opportunities to sell their produce. I congratulate them on the passage of Bills. It was necessary to bring these to protect them from middlemen. These are farmers’ shields,” PM Modi said.
“But the people who ruled this country for decades are attempting to mislead the farmers on this issue. They are lying to the farmers,” he added.
“Misinformation is being spread that farmers won’t get right prices. They are forgetting how aware the country’s farmers are,” PM said.
“The government is committed to helping farmers get right prices through Minimum Support Price,” he added.