Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday said the Centre’s agriculture sector laws were not just anti-farmer, but were also against the middle class and the youth. The farmers agitating against the statutes were not begging but fighting for their rights as an important segment in the democratic set-up, he said.
Mr. Pilot, along with 15 Congress MLAs, addressed a huge farmers’ rally organised in Kotkhawda area of Chaksu tehsil, near Jaipur, with a call for immediate repeal of the controversial laws. The legislators included Niwai MLA Prashant Bairwa, who had extended support to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the political crisis in July last year.
The rally, organised by Chaksu MLA Ved Prakash Solanki, sent across the message of Mr. Pilot’s political influence with the presence of thousands of people of the region dominated by Dalit, Jat and Meena communities. Large cut-outs of Mr. Pilot and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi were put up at the venue.
Mr. Pilot, who was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister during the turmoil created by his rebellion, said his party would compel the BJP-led government at the Centre to withdraw the farm laws. A three-point resolution passed on the occasion demanded repeal of the legislations, enactment of a law to ensure minimum support prices for crops and the rollback of the hike in fuel prices.
This was first major rally of farmers organised after the recent visit of Mr. Gandhi to the State.
