Farmers Movement Archive

Kerala’s lone BJP MLA backs assembly resolution against farm laws

The unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala legislative assembly on Thursday against the Union Government’s three farm laws received support from an unexpected quarter, the lone Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member O Rajagopal. The nonagenarian leader, who was minister of state for railways in the Vajpayee government, spoke against the resolution in the house initially but when it was put to voice vote he did not stage a walkout and supported it much to the surprise of the treasury and opposition benches. After the session, when reporters asked him about this he said he supported the resolution in accordance with the “democratic spirit of the house”. “I raised my disagreement in clear terms. But I supported the substance of the resolution in accordance with the democratic spirit. Nothing big about it, in democracy such compromises are common,” he said. When specifically asked whether he wanted to withdraw these bills he gave an indirect reply saying that was why he supported the resolution. He said compromise was the essence of democracy and the ongoing farmers’ agitation will be settled amicably soon. The ‘ambiguous’ stand of the veteran has put the party, which has dubbed the resolution “a mere waste of time and money,” in a piquant situation. “There is no difference of opinion in the party. He is a senior leader and we don’t think he will support the resolution. I will talk to him about this,” said party state president K Surendran. In Delhi, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, hailing from the state, said he was not aware of what the senior leader said in the house and the state unit will explain it. But leaders close to the veteran said he was quite unhappy with the growing feud in the state unit. After the elevation of Surendran some of the senior leaders were sidelined and the party’s attempt to broker peace between two prominent factions, one led by V Muraleedharan and other by senior leader PK Krishnadas, failed to yield any result so far. “His position literally shocked the party. The central leadership is also unhappy with it,” said another leader who did not want to be quoted. After the issue whipped up a controversy, later the leader said it was wrong to say he did not oppose the resolution and blamed the Speaker for not conducting a division of votes in the house. But his explanation was more ambiguous like his position on the controversial issue. The senior leader had courted controversy earlier also. During the Speaker’s election in 2016, he supported LDF nominee P Sreeramakrishnan and later he said he supported him because his name carried both Lord Ram and Lord Krishna. Having got a good opportunity to embarrass the BJP many Left leaders have praised O Rajagopal. “He took the right decision unmindful of its consequences,” said state finance minister Thomas Issac lauding him. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan introduced the resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the new laws and heed farmers who were staging a protest for more than a month. “The Centre wants to corporatize the farm sector. It must come forward to allay farmers’ fears. The entire country is with them. It should recognise public sentiment and withdraw the new laws,” said the CM. He said if the situation continued like this supply of essential commodities to consumerist states like Kerala will be affected. “Farmers are carrying on their stir in chilling winter. Some of them have lost their lives also. Their woes should be addressed at the earliest,” he said. Later, all 140 members of the assembly supported his resolution. These laws are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020. But they triggered protests in Delhi and many places. Farmers say these reforms will make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporate houses, erode their bargaining power and weaken the government’s procurement system. Earlier Governor Arif Mohammad Khan had denied permission to convene the house on December 24 triggering a controversy. Later, the Speaker and two ministers had called on him with a fresh recommendation and he agreed to it. Congress deputy leader K C Joseph has criticised the Governor’s decision saying the government was forced to bend before him on several occasions but the CM denied it. The state assembly had passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in August.

Hindustan Times

31-12-2020

India