Farmers Movement Archive

‘Deception aimed at elections’: Akhilesh Yadav reacts to repeal of farm laws

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday reacted to Prime minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of deciding to scrap all three new farm laws and said, “Those who are apologising will not be forgiven. Farm laws withdrawal is a deception aimed at the elections. The entire government must resign.”At a press conference, on Friday, at the SP state headquarters in Lucknow, Akhilesh said, “Janata inhe maaf nahin karegi, inhey saaf karegi (people will not forgive those who are apologising, people will oust them)”. He said those who are apologising should also announce quitting politics forever.“Saaf nahin hai inka dil, chunav baad fir layengi bill (their intentions are not clean, they will reintroduce the bills after elections),” said Akhilesh.He said, “Somewhere the government got scared because of the elections. The withdrawal is not for the farmers but aimed at elections. (The enactment of laws) was not a responsibility of one, it was a collective responsibility of the entire cabinet. So not just the cabinet, but the entire government must resign”.Cautioning farmers and people, Akhilesh said, “Sarkar ghabrakar kanoon wapas le rahi hai (the government got scared and withdrew the farm laws). The government might bring the laws back after the elections. So I call upon people to be cautious and alert and in the larger interest of farmers and people, should oust the BJP government”.Yadav congratulated all the farmers in the country. The farmers’ struggle against the three black farm laws led to the withdrawal of the laws, he said.Akhilesh mentioned his Wednesday-Thursday Purvanchal Vijay Yatra as a factor behind the withdrawal of the laws. “I can say that the kind of support Samajwadi Party got in the Purvanchal Vijay Yatra and the way farmers came out on roads to support SP shook not only the UP government but also the union government”.Akhilesh also said that like the three farm laws, the union government’s decision of demonetisation and GST were also wrong and they ruined the economy and traders. “Will the government apologise for the demonetisation?” he asked.“Along with withdrawing the black farm laws, the government should also tell when will it bring in MSP (minimum statutory price) for farm produce procurement and when will the union MoS for home, who is responsible for farmers death (in Lakhimpur Kheri incident) be removed,” Akhilesh said.“The government should also help and give aid to all those farmers who died during the farm agitation. Can BJP bring back those farmers who lost their lives for the farm struggle?” Akhilesh questioned.On PM’s frequent visits to UP, Akhilesh said, “The tours will rise further as the elections get closer”. On the increasing number of visits to the state by senior BJP leaders, he added, “Their tours will increase while elections are getting closer, and after the poll results their stature will be pruned”. On PM’s Mahoba and Jhansi visit on Friday, Akhilesh said, “Today, Mahoba, where the PM is going to speak, is the district where the highest number of farm suicides have happened. Bundelkhand is distressed”.When asked if he had any talks with the farm leader Rakesh Tikait, one of the leaders of the farm agitation, he said, “No. I am myself a farmer”.About the 2022 UP Assembly elections, he said, “Samajwadi Party (and allies) will win more than 400 seats, we are leaving 3 seats for the opposition.” UP has 403 assembly seats.The national vice president of the party, Kiranmoy Nanda, and the leader of opposition in UP Vidhan Sabha, Ramgovind Chaudhary, were also present at the press conference.

Hindustan Times

19-11-2021

India