Farm laws to be repealed ahead of UP Elections — here’s what opposition leaders say
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the three farm laws ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections has invited flak from opposition parties. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the decision was taken to garner public support in the state. Meanwhile, farmers’ bodies say that there are a few more demands that are still pending.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws that have kept farmers picketing the border of the national capital, ever since they were passed in September last year.
The decision has come ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections to be held in 2022. This has led to flak from opposition parties.
“Now that you are seeing a defeat in the elections, you have started to understand the truth of this country — that this is the country of farmers and no government can run the country by suppressing the interests of the farmers,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary, tweeted.
She also highlighted the deaths of farmers in the agitation and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party members for calling the protestors anti-national. “More than 600 farmers have died. More than 350 days of struggle. Your party leaders insulted farmers by calling them terrorists, anti-national, goons, you yourself called them ‘andolanjeevi’ (one who thrives on protests). They were lathi charged, and arrested,” she said.
“It is difficult to believe your [PM Modi] intentions and changing attitude,” she added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has also pointed out that the public support to his party has led to the repeal of three farm laws. “The BJP of the rich wanted to defraud the poor farmers with land acquisition and black laws … but fearing the public support of SP’s Vijay Yatra in Purvanchal, it withdrew the black-laws,” he tweeted.
Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said “the country’s farmers have defeated arrogance with their satyagraha.” “Congratulations on this victory against injustice!” he tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi also shared his old tweet. “Mark my words. Take it from me. These laws, the government will be forced to take them back. Remember what I said,” he had tweeted in January this year.
While announcing the central government’s decision to repeal three farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government failed to convince the farmers about the merits of the laws.
“We failed to make the farmers understand the merits of the three laws and we have now decided to repeal them,” he said, while addressing the nation on Guru Nanak Jayanti today, November 19.
Ever since the Union government passed the three laws, the country has witnessed country-wide protests against the legislation. Farmers, predominantly from Punjab and Haryana, have picketed the borders of the national capital, at Sikri and Sanghu, since November last year, as they insisted the farm laws that they said were not farmer-friendly, were repealed.
“At least 700 cultivators died in the protests,” Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of the agitating farmers’ organisation stated today, on November 19. The farmers lost their lives to inclement weather, health issues, and suicides while protesting against the laws.
“The Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures. If this happens, it will be a historic victory of the year-long farmers’ struggle in India,” read a statement issued by the farmers’ body.
“However, nearly 700 farmers were martyred in this struggle. The central government’s obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable deaths, including the murders at Lakhimpur Kheri,” read the statement.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha also pointed out that agitation of farmers is not just for the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers. “This important demand of farmers is still pending.”
Meanwhile, almost an hour after PM Modi’s announcement of the repeal of the farm laws, Rakesh Tikait, chief of the Bhartiya Kisan Union stated that the farmers’ agitation would continue till the laws were repealed by the Parliament after due legislative procedure. He also demanded that the government should discuss other standing issues of the farmers such as the minimum support price.