Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the voice of the farmers was gagged in Parliament but it will now resonate in the Punjab Assembly and echo in every part of the country till the Central government is compelled to withdraw the farm laws.
The Punjab government has decided to convene a special session of the Assembly on October 19 to bring in a legislation to counter them. Mr. Gandhi, along with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, kickstarted the second phase of the Smart Village Campaign (SVC) with the virtual launch of a ₹2,775-crore campaign to power the rural transformation. He said if farm laws were in the interest of the farmers, why did the BJP-led government not allow a debate on them in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
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Condemning the laws as a blatant attack by the BJP on the soul of each and every farmer, Mr. Gandhi said the Centre had launched an assault on Punjab and its farmers with these ill-conceived and unconstitutional legislations and every farmer and labourer is feeling the pain of this attack.
Mr. Gandhi hit out at the BJP accusing it of imposing laws on the nation from the top, without taking people at the grassroots into confidence. “That was the difference between the BJP and the Congress, with the former talking about buildings and not foundations,” he said, noting that farm land was the foundation of every village. He said the Congress will not allow India’s foundations to be weakened in this manner and will go all out to strengthen these foundations.
