A day after PM announcement, BJP-Opposition spar on farm laws

Congress observed 'Kisan Vijay Diwas' in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, seeking to pay homage to the farmers, who lost their lives during the agitation

As the BJP struggled to come out of the year-long protest over the three contentious farm laws, Opposition parties on Saturday trained guns on the government seeking to keep up the momentum on the issue with Congress sharing a video clip of bleeding farmers after lathicharge under the caption "Hum Nahin Bhoolenge (we will not forget)" and others reminding how they had chosen to warn the government against the move.

Asserting that the Modi government is "committed to the welfare of farmers", the official Twitter handle of BJP tweeted figures claiming how the export of farm and processed food products is on the constant rise despite Covid-19.

Read | 700 farmers 'martyred' in protest: Varun Gandhi to PM

"I asked a farmer leader to tell me what is black (in the farm laws). You people say this is a black law. I asked them what is black barring the ink (used),” Union Minister V K Singh said in Basti in UP a day after the Prime Minister announced that the government would repeal the three farm laws in the coming winter session, regretting that the government could not convince some farmers of the good intentions behind the measure.

Opposition parties, however, kept up the heat with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram hitting out at the government saying "it is only under the BJP that laws are made and unmade without prior Cabinet approval." He said Modi made the announcement to repeal the farm laws without holding a Cabinet meeting.

Reviving the "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe against the government, AICC communication chief Randeep Surjewala said the Prime Minister could convince "farmers of the benefits of the black laws, the industrialists of the benefits of Make in India, the benefits of CAA to minorities, the benefits of land acquisition ordinance to landowners, the benefits of demonetisation to economists...After all, there is a limit to lack of understanding."

Read | Lakhimpur farmers' kin want justice: Priyanka to PM

In poll-bound UP, where a repeat victory in the coming state polls is crucial for BJP to do well in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress observed "Kisan Vijay Diwas" on Saturday, seeking to pay homage to the farmers who lost their lives during the agitation. Congress leaders retweeted Rahul Gandhi's remarks who said victory also belonged to those who could not come back to their homes.

Western UP's Jat party RLD, which has an alliance with the Samajwadi Party urged the farmers to keep the protest till there is a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price.

Read | SKM asks farmers to gather at protest sites on Nov 26

A day before Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) is meeting to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote a two-page letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking withdrawal of cases lodged against the agitating farmers and demanding assistance to families of those, who died during the agitation.

Derek O' Brien of TMC shared portions of the Rajya Sabha debate on the farm bill last year to buttress how the TMC had cautioned the government against the bills posted a number of tweets to show how his party leader Mamata Banerjee backed the farmers' agitation and remained in touch with agitating farmers through measures including a video call.

"You have the right and the numbers to have your WAY. But we have the right to have our SAY. And we will keep you on track in a Parliamentary democracy, " he said, posting a 25-second video clip of the debate in Rajya Sabha on September 20 last year.

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