Farmers Movement Archive

Opposition parties misleading agitating farmers: BJP

NAGPUR: BJP general secretary Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday accused Congress and other opposition parties of misleading farmers agitating on the borders of the national capital. He said as these parties did not have an issue to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi, these are spreading lies about the new farm laws. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Bawankule said, “The Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra had passed similar laws for the state. However, when Modi enacted similar laws for the entire country, they are opposing it.” “When Sharad Pawar was the Union agriculture minister, he had written to all chief ministers asking them to amend agricultural produce market committee (APMC) laws. He had stressed on private participation in the procurement process,” said the BJP leader. “Congress in its manifesto for 2019 elections had promised to enact similar laws. Now that Modi is fulfilling the promises of Congress, its leaders are crying foul. Parties like Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, DMK etc have also promised to end the monopoly of APMCs on various forums. However, now these parties are singing a different tune,” he said. “The new farm laws will only hit the middlemen. In Punjab, they (the middlemen) get 10% commission in APMCs and hence they are protesting,” said Bawankule. The BJP leader said the central government had agreed to amend the laws as per demands of the agitating farmers during every round of talks. “However, as soon as the farm union leaders go back to their tents, they start demanding that the laws should be repealed. We will not repeal these laws at any cost,” he added.

The Times of India

2020-12-15

Nagpur