AAP, BJP, Congress spar over ongoing protests

AAP’s spokesperson Raghav Chadha accused the Congress of supporting the three laws which the farmers are protesting against.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the Central government should immediately talk to agitating farmer groups without any preconditions.

Farmers from Punjab raise slogans against central goverment during a protest over farm reform laws, at Singhu Delhi-Haryana Border, in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

He tweeted, “The central government should immediately talk to the farmers without any terms and conditions.”

His comments came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah said that the government was ready to talk to farmer leaders before the scheduled date of December 3 (Wednesday) along with an appeal to move their demonstration to a designated open space in Burari – located in the northern peripheries of the city.

The BJP hit back at the AAP accusing them of “misleading” farmers.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “When the Union home minister has given a clear assurance to farmers, we fail to understand why the AAP leaders are misleading them. Large gatherings are unsafe in the light of the pandemic. The BJP can also incur all expenses for arrangements in Burari. The AAP should look at its own anti-farmer reforms. They charge road tax on tractors, higher power rate for irrigation and hardly procure anything at Minimum Support Price (MSP). Delhi farmers are in distress because of them.”

Chadha said, “Congress party’s 2019 election manifesto had the proposal of the abolition of agriculture produce market committees (APMC). Also, the Modi government had formed a committee to discuss these anti-farmer laws. In meetings of that Committee committee, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress gave his consent to all three anti-farmer laws.”

The Congress denied the charges and hit back saying Chadha’s statements were “outright lie”.

Mudit Agarwal, vice president of the Delhi unit of Congress said, “In the manifesto, the Congress had promised reforms in APMCs. And we are against the idea of doing away with APMCs. Also, minimum support process has to be given legal status under the new law to protect the interest of the farmers. As far as the committee is concerned, the Congress leadership in Punjab had never consented to the three Bills (now laws) which the farmers are protesting against.”

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