Farm Laws: Cong slams Centre over Tomar’s Nagpur remarks

New Delhi, Dec 25:Congress on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s remark on the three farm laws at an event in Maharashtra on Friday.Tomar in Nagpur said the government has only taken one step backward and it will move ahead. This was translated as “the laws may be brought back to impinge upon the rights of the farmers and to barter and sell agriculture at the altar of the capitalists friends of the BJP”, by the Congress.
Parliament in its tumultuous Winter Session that concluded a day ahead of the designated December 23, had repealed the original Farm laws of September 2020, which were called black laws by the farming community and protested for over a year (from November 26, 2020 to December 8, 2021).
The Congress on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi led government of “hatching conspiracy” and egging to bring back the contentious laws through ‘back-door’ following Tomar’s revelation.
“A conspiracy is being hatched by the Modi government against farmers to bring back the three black laws (farm laws) through ‘back-door’ after elections in five states,” Congress Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.
The Congress’ statement comes after a purported video of the Union Agriculture Minister addressing the Nagpur event went viral on social media.
Tomar is allegedly seen mentioning about the benefits of the new agri reforms (which were withdrawn by the government following over an year of protest by the farmers) and apparently hinted that the government will move forward again in this regard.
Assembly elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur are scheduled to be held early next year.
“Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar on Friday called the repealed three farm laws as the most progressive piece of legislation in Maharashtra.
“He said the government has only taken one step backward and it will move ahead. Meaning, these laws will be brought back to impinge upon the rights of the farmers and to barter and sell agriculture at the altar of the capitalists friends of the BJP,” the Congress spokesperson said.
Modi government at the Centre cannot ‘annihilate’ the rights of 62 crore farmers of the country, he added.
“We call upon country’s farmers and people of the country on behalf of Congress to stop the diabolical conspiracy of the Modi government from bringing back the three anti-farmer laws by defeating the BJP in the assembly elections,” Surjewala said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter and slammed the Union Minister over his statement and said ‘it is highly condemnable”.
“The Agriculture Minister of the country has insulted Modiji’s apology — it is highly condemnable. If again anti-farmer steps are taken forward, then again Annadata Satyagraha will happen… Ego of the government was deflated earlier, and it will be defeated again,” Gandhi tweeted.

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