Govt consulted 1.5L farmers from various unions before introducing farm bills: Smriti Irani
Item
Title
Govt consulted 1.5L farmers from various unions before introducing farm bills: Smriti Irani
Description
Strap: Sonia ji not a farmer but opposing farm laws, Amethi MP attacks Gandhis in UP Meerut: Union minister and Lok Sabha MP from Amethi Smriti Irani claimed that the farm bills were introduced by the agriculture minister only after holding consultations with 1.5 lakh farmers from unions across the country.Addressing a 'Kisan Sabha' in Meerut on Friday, Irani said, "There were discussions for 20 years. And just before the bills were introduced in Parliament by the agriculture minister, he held online consultations with 1.5 lakh farmers from different unions."Irani's 'Kisan Sabha' in Uttar Pradesh comes just a day after CM Yogi Adityanath addressed a farmers' gathering in Bareilly. The 'Kisan Sabha' is part of BJP's outreach programme amid the ongoing massive protests by farmers at Delhi-NCR and Delhi-Haryana borders against the three contentious farm laws. Irani said, "It was assured in the Parliament that MSP would not be scrapped. Farmers should not be misguided by the claims of Opposition parties."During her speech, the Cabinet minister also outlined achievements of the Centre's various public welfare schemes like the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and Ayushman Yojana. Taking a direct swipe at Congress party and its top leaders for backing the farmers' agitation against the new farm laws, she said that the Opposition claims that the one who made the bills isn't a farmer, but "then is Rahul Gandhi a farmer? Is Sonia Gandhi a farmer?""The ones who cannot differentiate whether chillies are red or green in Parliament, are they farmers? Ones who grow 40-inch potatoes and talk about putting potatoes from one side and getting gold from the other, are they farmers?" the minister for textiles and women and child development said as she attacked the Gandhis.She was flanked by several BJP MLAs and MPs from the region, including her Cabinet colleague and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan.
Publisher
The Times of India
Date
2020-12-19
Coverage
Meerut