Expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers in Delhi, the Congress on February 13 promised that it would provide a legal guarantee for minimum support price to farmers if its INDIA bloc alliance came to power. The party claimed that the move would benefit nearly 15 crore farmers in the country.
At a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his predecessor Rahul Gandhi announced their plan to provide MSP in accordance with the farm income recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee, a primary demand of protesters gathered at the borders of the national capital for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. The rally was the concluding event of the Chhattisgarh leg of the party’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will resume in Bihar two days later.
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Mr. Kharge termed this announcement the party’s first guarantee, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
He also criticised the police action around Delhi to contain the protests. “The farmers who have been fighting for their rights [on the Delhi border], iron spikes were laid on the road and cement walls were placed to stop them. What kind of democracy is this? Can’t anyone fight for their rights?” he asked.
Mr. Gandhi reiterated Mr. Kharge’s promise and added that this was only the beginning; discussions were on for the INDIA alliance manifesto, which would have more such promises for the farmers and labourers. Referring to the protests, he remarked that the farmers were not getting what they deserved.
“Today, farmers are marching towards Delhi on foot. They are being stopped, tear gas is being used on them, they are being jailed. What are they saying? They are only saying that they should get the reward for their hard work,” he said.
The former Congress president said that while the BJP government gave Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, to the late M.S. Swaminathan, it was not ready to implement his recommendations.
Earlier, Mr. Kharge explained that a legal guarantee to MSP meant that the government would compensate the difference when farmers are paid less than the support prices.
“We will ensure farmers a guarantee of fair prices by making MSP law according to the Swaminathan Committee report. This will benefit 15 crore farmers,” he later wrote on X. In another post, he wrote that his party was raising its voice for 62 crore farmers.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress president claimed that private insurance companies earned a profit of ₹40,000 crore in the past 10 years through the Prime Minister’s crop insurance scheme. “Modi ji does not care about farmers and poor, rather he only pays attention to the rich.”
He further alleged that the BJP had started using the ‘Modi ki guarantee’ term, copying the Congress which won elections in Karnataka and other States by giving guarantees. Commenting on the term bearing an individual’s name, he said that while his party called its promises as Congress’s guarantee, the BJP called them Modi’s guarantee.
“He [Mr. Modi] always talks about himself. If a person has so much ego, then think whether he believes in democracy or not. He only works for himself and the person who works for himself is like a dictator and Hitler, not the one who believes in democracy,” he said.
