Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi slammed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejirwal on Thursday for tearing the Centre’s three farm bills at the one-day session of the Delhi Assembly.
Lekhi pointed out that the three farm laws had been published in the Delhi Gazette on November 23, and that they were tearing up the copies of the act after notifying. She called Kejriwal the ‘new chameleon’ who can ‘just change colours without qualms’.
“Centre’s three farm laws were notified in Delhi Gazette on November 23. Now, they’re tearing copies of same act in Delhi Assembly after notifying. This is opportunistic politics. Delhi CM is the new chameleon, he can just change colours without qualms,” she said.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had torn up the copies of the three farm laws in the one-day session of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday as a protest against the controversial legislation. He accused the BJP of ensuring their poll funding through the laws rather than thinking of the welfare of the farmers.
“What was the hurry to get the farm bills passed in Parliament during the pandemic? It has happened for the first time that three laws were passed without voting in Rajya Sabha, even when several members were opposing the move… In the last 6-7 years, the BJP has made elections so expensive. So, much of money is spent on elections (by political parties). These laws have not been passed for the farmers. These laws have been made to ensure election funding for the BJP,” he told the members of the house.
{{/usCountry}}“What was the hurry to get the farm bills passed in Parliament during the pandemic? It has happened for the first time that three laws were passed without voting in Rajya Sabha, even when several members were opposing the move… In the last 6-7 years, the BJP has made elections so expensive. So, much of money is spent on elections (by political parties). These laws have not been passed for the farmers. These laws have been made to ensure election funding for the BJP,” he told the members of the house.
{{/usCountry}}The assembly had passed a resolution tabled by revenue minister Kailash Gahlot demanding that the Central government should repeal the laws immediately.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener also accused the nation’s ruling party of asking big party leaders to convince the farmers, saying that the farmers were not the ones that were misguided, but the BJP leaders and supporters.
Kejriwal even urged the Centre to not be worse than the British. “How many sacrifices will the farmers have to make to get their voices heard? Today, the Delhi Assembly rejects all the three farm laws and appeals to the Central government to take back the legislations. I request the Centre not to be worse than the British,” he said.
Scores of farmers have been protesting against the three controversial farm legislations brought by the Centre for days now and talks between representatives of both have resulted in stalemate. The Centre is willing to amend the laws but the majority of the protesting farmers want a complete roll back.