A day after Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said the Union government had taken a step back with regard to the farm laws but will move forward again, the Congress on Saturday alleged that the Centre is making a “concerted conspiracy” to bring them back and the only way to ‘stop’ it is to decisively defeat the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections.
At an event in Nagpur on Friday, Mr. Tomar said, “We brought agriculture amendment laws. But some people did not like them which were a big reform brought about 70 years after Independence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership”.
“But the government is not disappointed. We moved a step back and we will move forward again because farmers are India’s backbone.”
Taking to Twitter, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said Mr. Tomar had “insulted” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology.
“It is condemnable. If anti-farmer steps are taken again, then satyagraha of the ‘annadatas’ will take place again. Arrogance was defeated earlier, it will be defeated again,” Mr. Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag “FarmersProtest”.
At a press conference, party’s chief spokesperson and general secretary Randeep Surjewala claimed that the government had repealed the laws sensing defeat in the five State elections including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
He said when the Prime Minister had apologised, “even then we had suspected the intent of the Prime Minister, the BJP, the RSS and the Modi government”.
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj had earlier talked about bringing back the farm laws but Mr. Tomar’s latest remarks have ‘fortified the conspiracy that is being hatched’, alleged Mr. Surjewala.
“We call upon the farmers, we call upon fellow Indians, that the only way to stop the diabolical conspiracy of the Modi government from bringing back the farm laws is to decisively defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and other elections so that a lesson is taught to the crony capitalist-driven BJP government at the Centre that they cannot annihilate the rights of 62 crore farmers,” he said.
General secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal tweeted, “Agri Minister’s statement today not only nullifies any farcical ‘apology’ by Modiji but exposes their ulterior motives — a step back to ease agitations during elections, many steps forward at a later time to favour their friends & attack annadatas. Shame!”
