Farmers Movement Archive

Scrap farm laws, demands Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday joined the party’s protest at Jantar Mantar demanding abolition of the recently passed farm laws. At the protest, organised by AAP’s Punjab unit, the Delhi chief minister demanded introduction of another law under which 100% of the crop should be procured at the minimum support price (MSP), which should be 1.5 times the cost of production. “This is what the farmers want,” he claimed. Alleging that Bharatiya Janata Party wants to take farming away from farmers and give it to corporates, Kejriwal said, “We want a complete rollback of the three farm laws. The sector cannot be compromised.” Only 6 per cent of the crop is procured at MSP across the country, he added. While BJP had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission report that talks about higher minimum support price, the party has actually scrapped it after winning the Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal added. He also slammed some political parties for behaving differently inside and outside Parliament. “When BJP formed a committee to draft the Bill, a party leader from Punjab was present in it. Another party leader was part of the Cabinet that approved the Bill and congratulated BJP for passing it. Now they are taking out tractor rallies and holding dharnas,” Kejriwal said. AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, who led the protest, said, “These deadly laws are not only anti-farmer but also anti-public, anti-Punjab and anti-country, and are being imposed in a dictatorial manner.” Scores of farmers and party workers reached Delhi on Monday morning to stage the protest. “The new laws will make the life of farmers miserable. We strongly oppose it,” said Kulwinder Singh, who came from Punjab’s Rampur village. A few protesters burned copies of the farm laws at the site.

The Times of India

2020-10-13

Delhi