PM Modi accuses opposition parties of 'misleading' farmers on farm laws

Amid the ongoing protests by the farmers from Punjab and Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday once again defended the new farm laws and said that the opponents are ''spreading apprehensions' and 'misleading' the farmers.

Speaking at a function on the occasion of completion of a six-lane highway connecting Prayagraj and his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, Modi launched a veiled attack on the Congress and said that those, who had 'duped' the farmers over the years, are now opposing the new farm laws.

''Earlier the nature of the protests was different....they were against the decisions but now they are based on apprehensions, propaganda and misinformation,'' the prime minister said.

''Very soon those, who are protesting against the farm laws, will be exposed before the people....even the opponents of the laws will reap the benefits in future,'' he added.

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He said that the farmers had been 'duped' for years in the name of MSP (minimum support price). ''The small and marginal farmers could not get the benefits....the farmers were duped even on the pretext of loan waiver,'' Modi said.

He also sought to allay the apprehensions that the government wanted to abolish the mandis.

He also cited the figures regarding the purchase of wheat, paddy and pulses during the past few years to buttress his claim that his government had bought more from the farmers than before.

''We are strengthening the mandis....why will we do that if we want to abolish them,'' he said.

He sought to assure the protesting farmers that the government would take every step to allay their apprehensions with regard to the farm laws.

Modi's remarks came at a time when thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have gathered on the borders of Delhi and threatened to block the entry points of the national capital.