Farmers Movement Archive

Modi govt. responsible for chaos during tractor rally, says Chavan

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said that the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were entirely responsible for the violence and chaos that erupted during the farmers’ agitation in Delhi on Republic Day. He further exhorted the Centre to cast off its intransigence over the amended farm laws and immediately repeal the contentious legislations. “The Modi government did not discuss the new laws with anyone but merely imposed them on the farmers before consulting them. The erstwhile Manmohan Singh-led UPA as well as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA governments used to take all parties in confidence before formulating any vital legislation and implementing it,” Mr. Chavan, a former Maharashtra Chief Minister, said. Meanwhile, farmer leader Ajit Nawale, who is the State general secretary of the Left-affiliated All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said that a number of farmer leaders had hinted at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being responsible for triggering the chaos and violence in the capital. He further said that it was curious that the BJP’s IT cell did not circulate any videos of the one lakh-odd tractors that protested peacefully but only made viral one tractor that had crashed into the barricades. “Why is it that only this one video is being widely circulated by the BJP’s IT cell? The AIKS demands a thorough probe into the matter,” Mr. Nawale said.

The Hindu

2021-01-28

Pune