BJP plans outreach across Maharashtra over three new farm laws

Amid criticism from the Opposition, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to go to farmers and workers in industries and factories to create awareness about

Amid criticism from the Opposition, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to go to farmers and workers in industries and factories to create awareness about the newly enacted farm and labour laws. Moreover, in a bid to corner chief minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, the party has chalked out a programme to stage statewide protests on the rise in crimes against women and support Maratha community over quota in jobs and education.

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The newly elected executive committee and the state working committee of the BJP held a daylong session at its Dadar office on Thursday. BJP’s national president JP Nadda addressed the executive and working committee members through video-conferencing, after its national general secretary BL Santosh inaugurated the session in the morning. Leader of Opposition in the legislative Assembly and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed the valedictory session.

The party passed five resolutions, three of which were to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the newly enacted laws and completion of 20 years in public office. Other two resolutions were to galvanise the party cadre against MVA rule over the rise in atrocities against women and support Maratha community’s fight for reservation.

In his speech, Nadda said, “The Modi government has stood by the farmers over the past six years, be it implementation of the recommendation of the Swaminathan committee report or giving farmers liberty from middlemen. BJP workers should convince the farmers about the reforms the new laws will bring in. The people of Maharashtra are waiting for an opportunity to elect the BJP back to power.”

State unit chief of the party Chandrakant Patil said the party will on October 12 hold demonstrations on crimes against women at 700 places across the state. “Covid centres erected by the government are not safe as a number of cases of rapes and molestations have been reported there. A long march from Shivaji statue at Shivaji Park to Chaityabhoomi in Dadar will be part of the protest,” he said.

“The opposition to the farm and labour laws is for political reasons. The Congress’s 2019 election manifesto and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar too had supported removing farm produce from the clutches of APMCs. The same parties are now opposing the law related to the APMCs. Our party workers would go to farms and gates of factories to spread awareness about how these laws will empower them,” he said.

Fadnavis said the MVA government has failed on all fronts, be it handling of Covid-19, legal battle in reservation to Marathas or atrocities against women.