Farmers Movement Archive

Cong to hold mega rallies on Jan 15 against farm laws

Ranchi: Congress, a part of the ruling disposition, will once again hit the streets against the new farm laws implemented by the Centre as a part of its move to counter BJP’s ongoing stirs against the alleged law and order problems in Jharkhand. Mega rallies and demonstrations will be held in Ranchi on January 15, informed Congress leaders. For the last one week after a female was beheaded in Ranchi’s Ormanjhi, BJP upped its ante against the state government by holding demonstrations and protests at different places in Ranchi and elsewhere across different districts almost daily. Even on Sunday, BJP’s leader of legislative party Babulal Marandi addressed a sit-in organised by the party’s Ranchi unit outside Raj Bhavan while on Saturday, former chief minister Raghubar Das led the charge against the incumbent government by demanding a CBI probe into the Ormanjhi incident. To counter the saffron camp’s growing tempo, the state unit of Congress said it will hold rallies against the new farm laws and uncontrolled rise of petrol and diesel prices in the last one month. State Congress president and state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon said, “To begin with, the party has decided to organise a massive protest in Ranchi on January 15.” Snubbing the Union government, party spokesperson Alok Dubey said, “Hundreds of farmers are on a warpath at the Delhi border for the last 40 days even amid a biting cold to fight for existence, but the Modi-government is unconcerned. All that the government is doing is duping the country in the name of negotiations with the protesting farmers. Even after seven rounds of talks, nothing has come out. We support farmers’ demand to repeal the new laws. Government must listen to our farmers to save corporatisation of farm lands,” he said. Lal Kishorenath Shahdeo, another spokesperson of the party, said Congress has started preparations for the January 15 stir. “All lawmakers and senior party workers will be present in Ranchi to stage protests in favour of repealing the farm laws. We had been fighting for our farmers for a long time,” he said, boasting how the state government on the contrary introduced farm loan waivers to help scores of farmers, many of whom are hit by the pandemic. The Grand Old Party has also decided to resume its membership drive from January 12, which was suspended in March last year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Dubey said, “This year, we have set a target of 15 lakh new members.”

The Times of India

2021-01-11

Ranchi