A day after the announcement on repealing the three contentious farm laws, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday stepped up the attack on the Narendra Modi Government, asking the Prime Minister to sack Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’. Mr. Mishra’s son Ashish is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where protesting farmers were mowed down by vehicles of the Minister’s convoy.
The Congress leader also urged the Prime Minister not to share the stage with the Minister at the conference of Directors-General of Police (DGPs) in Lucknow, keeping in mind the farmers’ interest.
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Reading out a letter she wrote to the Prime Minister, Ms. Vadra said: “Yesterday, while addressing the people of the country, you had said that with true mind and pious heart and keeping in mind the interests of the farmers, an unprecedented decision to repeal the farm laws was taken. If this is true, then getting justice delivered to the families affected by the Lakhimpur Kheri violence should be your top priority.”
“If today, your intention is really clear about the farmers of the country, then you should not share the stage with the Union Minister of State for Home, and remove him,” Ms. Vadra added.
The Congress also observed the day as Kisan Vijay Divas across the country to celebrate the victory of the farmers.
Separately, the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi sent out personalised SMSs to active members of the Congress, urging them to inform people how the party fought against the farm laws.
“Dear xxx, We fought hard for the farmers and forced the Modi government to withdraw the black agriculture laws,” Mr. Gandhi said in his message. The message linked to his January 14 press interaction in Madurai where he had said, “Mark my words, the Government will have to take back the anti-farm laws.”
From such messages to visiting the families of farmers who died during the agitation and building a memorial in Punjab in their honour, the Congress has been quick to build a political narrative around the complete rollback of the farm laws.
While the BJP has sought to build bridges with the farming community ahead of the Assembly elections in key States such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (especially western U.P.), the Congress has linked recent decisions such as reduction in fuel prices and rollback of farm laws to elections.
The party has argued that a setback for the BJP in the recent byelections across 14 States effected a ₹10 and ₹5 cut in excise duty on diesel and petrol. “The nation wins in BJP deafeat,” said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
