As the agitating farmers continued their sit-in on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday condemned the statements of the BJP leaders decrying their protest. Mr. Gehlot said the farmers’ protest was for their genuine concerns, which the NDA government at the Centre was ignoring.
Mr. Gehlot demanded that the Centre find an amicable solution and address the grievances sympathetically, “instead of blaming gangs and anti-national elements for these protests”. He pointed out that the farmers had been protesting in a peaceful manner.
“The farm laws that are not in the interest of the farming community must be taken back,” Mr. Gehlot tweeted.
A large number of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSS) members, accompanied by civil rights activists, staged a demonstration outside the district collectorate here demanding an immediate repeal of the agriculture sector laws. The protesters also raised slogans against the BJP’s attempts to defame the farmers.
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BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said in Jaipur earlier on Monday though the farmers were innocent, some elements among them “need[ed] to be exposed”. He said the protesters were putting up the posters of individuals like Sharjeel Imam, arrested on charges of sedition during the anti-CAA protests.
Mr. Singh, who is in-charge of party affairs in Rajasthan, said the farm laws had been enacted in the interest of the farmers, but the Congress, which had earlier promised similar measures in its election manifesto, was opposing the reforms because of “political considerations”.
