JP Nadda shares old video, take a dig at Rahul Gandhi over criticism of farm laws

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda shared an old video of Rahul Gandhi speaking in the Lok Sabha and accused him of opposing now what he advocated earlier. Nadda was referring to the staunch criticism of farm laws by the Opposition.

Rahul Gandhi can be seen narrating a story of a Uttar Pradesh farmer in the video. “A farmer from UP once asked me how it was possible that that while he sold potatoes for Rs 2 per kilogram, his children bought packets of potato chips, with each one having chips worth one potato, for Rs 10 each,” he said.

 

ये क्या जादू हो रहा है राहुल जी?

पहले आप जिस चीज़ की वकालत कर रहे थे, अब उसका ही विरोध कर रहे है।

देश हित, किसान हित से आपका कुछ
लेना-देना नही है।आपको सिर्फ़ राजनीति करनी है।लेकिन आपका दुर्भाग्य है कि अब आपका पाखंड नही चलेगा। देश की जनता और किसान आपका दोहरा चरित्र जान चुके है। pic.twitter.com/Uu2mDfBuIT

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) December 27, 2020

“On being asked why he thought this was happening, the farmer said it was because they were unable to sell their products directly to the factories making chips. If there was provision for us to sell our produce directly, without middlemen, all profit would reach us,” he added.

The video clip, from 2015, shows Rahul Gandhi speaking on what prompted the Congress to undertake the Amethi Food Park project.

The BJP government at the Centre has been saying that the new farm laws, passed by Parliament in September, will be liberating for small farmers. According to the government, the laws will shield farmers from middlemen and increase their income. The group of farmers protesting against the laws, however, feel that they will put them at the mercy of big landowners. They have proposed December 29 as the date for the next round of talks with the government. This will be the sixth round of meetings between Union ministers and farmer groups.

The three contentious farm laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.