Farmers Movement Archive

‘Farmers defeated Centre’s hidden agenda’

Palakkad: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal has said that the “farmers of the country have defeated the hidden agenda of the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which handed over the agriculture sector to the corporate houses through the three farm Bills passed in Parliament without allowing any discussion and suspending opposition MPs who had opposed it.” Inaugurating the protest meeting against the price rise of petroleum products at Fort Maidan on Saturday, he said that “the victory of farmers is a big slap on the face of BJP and its government at the Centre due to the united fight by farmers supported by opposition parties inside Parliament and outside of it.” He said the withdrawal of the three bills earlier would have saved 700 farmers and their families who lost their lives during the year-long farmers’ agitation. He said that the farmers braved all odds to continue their agitation for protecting the farm sector and it was a non-political agitation and the Congress did not want to politicize the agitation though some people are claiming that their support to the agitation led to the victory. The AICC general secretary criticized the LDF government in Kerala for not bringing down the tax on petroleum products thus supporting the BJP government at the Centre who are hiking the price almost every day. The meeting was presided over by DCC president A Thankappan and addressed by KPCC working president and MP Kodikunnil Suresh and MPs V K Sreekandan and Ramya Haridas, KPCC vice-president V T Balram, Youth Congress state president and MLA Shafi Parambil, among others. tnn

The Times of India

2021-11-21

Kochi