PM Modi defends new farm laws again in veiled reference

Amid the ongoing protests by the farmers against the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought to defend the same by claiming the support of the people and cited the BJP's success in the recent elections to buttress his contention.

After virtually inaugurating the construction of the Metro rail project in Agra, PM Modi, without referring to the farm laws, said that the laws which were useful in the past had become a 'burden' today.

''There is new confidence in the people owing to the reforms, which were undertaken in the recent past...if you (people) look at them (reforms) minutely, you too will be satisfied,'' the prime minister said.

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Modi also hinted that the farmers needed to study the new farm laws minutely before protesting against the same.

''The support of the people to the reforms are reflected in every election....in Hyderabad the lower and middle-class people blessed the efforts of the government,'' Modi said, in an apparent reference to the massive gains made by the BJP in the Hyderabad municipal corporation polls.

He said that earlier reforms used to be undertaken in parts but now the government was undertaking them in totality.

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The prime minister also listed the achievements of the government in different fields and said that every section of the population had been benefitted from the schemes of the government.

Modi's remarks came at a time when thousands of farmers are protesting against the farm laws and had gathered on the borders of the national capital. Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to yield any positive results.