Cong slams PM for hailing farm laws

SURJEWALA ALSO HIT OUT AT AMIT SHAH FOR ATTENDING A POLITICAL EVENT IN HYDERABAD BUT NOT REACHING OUT TO FARMERS IMMEDIATELY

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reiterating that the new agri laws are beneficial for farmers, the Congress on Sunday said the insistence in support of the legislations shows that the government is “drunk with power” and is rigid even in reconsidering the laws. The Opposition party also demanded that Prime Minister Modi should immediately announce the suspension of the three “anti-agriculture” laws.

“The Prime Minister’s obduracy, arrogance and rigidity in dealing with 62 crore farmers and farm labourers of India is writ large by his insistence today in the ‘Mann ki Baat’ that the three anti-farmer, anti-agricultre laws, forcibly passed in an illegal and unconstitutional manner, by Parliament, are correct,” Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here. “For the PM to say that these three laws are absolutely right when lakhs and lakhs of farmers are sitting around Delhi agitating, demanding their withdrawal, shows that the Modi government is drunk with power and Prime Minister Modi does not care about the welfare of the farmers and farm labourers of India,” he said. Surjewala’s remarks came hours after Prime Minister Modi, in his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ broadcast, asserted that these reforms have opened doors of new opportunities for farmers and bestowed on them new rights.

Surjewala also hit out at Amit Shah for attending a political event in Hyderabad but not reaching out to farmers immediately. “If the home minister has time to travel 1,200 km to Hyderabad to attend a public meeting, why does Amit Shah does not have the time to go 15 km to the borders of Delhi and talk to the agitating farmers,” the Congress leader said.