Farmers Movement Archive

‘Luxury rally’: Protesting farmers in Amritsar say Rahul Gandhi’s protest just a stunt

As Rahul Gandhi continued to target the Centre over the farm laws during his second tractor rally in Punjab, farmers agitating in Amritsar’s Devi Dasspura village on Monday termed the Congress leader’s rally as a ‘luxury rally’ adding that protests by political parties were stunts ahead of the upcoming elections.The Congress party’s three-day ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’has entered its second day and Gandhi is expected to cover a distance of 20 kilometres during the day.“The tractors used by Rahul Gandhi are not the ones most farmers use, rather they are luxury tractors. The protest is a ‘luxury rally’. He is using this issue only for political gains in the upcoming 2022 elections. This is just a political stunt. If they really wanted to do something, they should have done it in Parliament,” Sukhwinder Singh Sabran, a farmer leader, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.As the ‘rail roko’ agitation against the farm laws passed by the Centre entered its 12th day on Monday, protesting farmers also announced the extension of the agitation till October 8.Also Read: Rahul Gandhi’s Facebook page sees 40% more engagement than Narendra Modi’sOn the first day of the tractor rally, Gandhi was joined by chief minister Amarinder Singh and several senior party leaders including Navjot Singh Sidhu. The rally on Sunday saw huge crowds of farmers. The two Congress leaders met the protesting farmers and assured them of full support in their fight against these laws. While addressing a gathering at the Lamme Jattpura village in Ludhiana’s Raikot, Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government has been attacking the poor.The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, were passed during the monsoon session of Parliament.Also Read| ‘Modi govt bent on snatching land, bread from farmers’: Rahul GandhiThe government has maintained these laws will help small and marginal farmers to sell produce outside ‘mandis’ and sign agreements with agri-business firms and also do away with stock-holding limits on key commodities.However, protesting farmers especially in states such as Punjab and Haryana have said that these laws could allow the government to stop buying food-grains at the Centre’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) and further push farmers into a trap of exploitation by agribusinesses and other corporates.(With ANI inputs)

Hindustan Times

05-10-2020

India