NO ONE WAS CONSULTED, GOVT MUST START ON ‘CLEAN SLATE’: CHIDAMBARAM

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Saturday hit out at the Centre over the impasse on the farm laws, alleging that “no one” was consulted for the legislations, and asserted that the only way out for the government was to agree to start on a “clean slate”.

His remarks came a day after the Centre asked protesting farmers to form an informal group to prepare a concrete proposal about their objections and suggestions on the farm laws for further discussion at their next meeting on January 19 to end the long-running protest at various Delhi borders.

The protesting farmer unions, however, stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three legislations.

In a series of Twitter posts, Chidambaram said that as expected, another round of talks between the farmers and government has failed. The fault lies with the government because it will not agree to get rid of the disputed laws, the former minister said.

“RTI responses have exposed as a lie the government’s claim that there were extensive consultations before the Farm Laws Ordinances were promulgated. The truth is that no one was consulted. In particular, the state governments were not consulted,” he alleged.

The only way out of the impasse is for the government to admit its mistake and agree to start on a clean slate, Chidambaram said.

Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers’ income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and “mandi” systems.