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Opposition may meet Prez Kovind over farm stir today
On Tuesday, the Congress said it was not against farm sector reforms, but the laws introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government did not reflect reforms.
Six opposition party leaders are likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday to discuss the farmers’ campaign against three newly enacted agricultural laws that have angered farmers, and seek the repeal of the legislation pushed through by the Centre in September.
On Tuesday, the Congress said it was not against farm sector reforms, but the laws introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government did not reflect reforms. The party also reiterated its demand for convening a special session of Parliament to scrap the three laws.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said opposition leaders will hold talks to forge a collective stand on the contentious farm laws before meeting the President at 5 pm.
“Tomorrow 5-6 people from different political parties are going to sit, discuss and take a collective stand. We will present our collective stand before the President,” Pawar said.
The recent reforms in the antiquated farm sector allow businesses to freely trade farm produce outside the government-controlled mandi system, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and lay down new rules for contract farming. Farmers fear the reforms could pave the way for the government to stop buying staples at federally fixed minimum support prices (MSPs), erode their bargaining power and leave them at the mercy of private buyers.
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Apart from the NCP, other opposition parties likely to attend the meeting include the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a last-minute addition to the delegation.
The opposition parties also supported Tuesday’s Bharat Bandh, or shutdown strike, called by the farmers’ unions against the three new agricultural laws. Farmers have massed at Delhi’s borders to protest against the laws.
Besides Pawar, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja and TKS Elangovan of the DMK will meet the President.
The ongoing protests by farmers have triggered a war of words between the government and opposition parties.
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said Pawar, as the agriculture minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, had asked states to amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act that governs the mandi system and had even warned them that the Centre will not provide them financial assistance in the absence of the three reforms. The ruling BJP also cited letters written by Pawar at that time to chief ministers.
Pawar said the BJP was trying to divert public attention by creating a controversy over his letters asking chief ministers to amend the APMC Act.
“I had said APMC act should continue but needed some reforms. There is no doubt that I had written the letter. But the new laws do not even mention APMC. The BJP is just trying to divert the attention. No need to give importance,” he told a press conference in Delhi.
Meanwhile, former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said agricultural reforms should be discussed afresh in Parliament and new laws enacted after consulting all stakeholders. He said a minimum support price mechanism had to be incorporated into the legislation to protect the interests of farmers.
He alleged that the farm laws introduced by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had been passed without any consultations with farmers, and noted that these were pushed through amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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“We are not against reforms but current laws must be immediately repealed and a fresh reform process initiated after consultations with all stakeholders and discussion in Parliament,” Hooda told a press conference.
The former chief minister also alleged that the BJP-led Haryana government had lost the trust of the people of the state and of the assembly because it had “mishandled” the farmers’ protests.
“I have written to governor demanding immediate convening of the Haryana assembly as the state government has insulted farmers and lost the trust of the people,” he said.
Hooda said the Congress would move a no-confidence motion against the Manohar Lal Khattar government of Haryana, citing support extended to the farmers by some legislators. He also said a 2019 Congress manifesto promising abolition of the APMC Act was being misrepresented by the BJP.
“We had promised to create procurement centres and mandis in nearby areas for farmers. We did that in Haryana, some even in a village with a small population of 10,000,” Hooda said.
