Modi tweets in Punjabi, says agri legislations in farmers’ interest
CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: In the wake of protests by farmers in Punjab and Haryana against three agriculture-related ordinances, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured the farmers -- through tweets in Punjabi -- that the proposed laws were historic and in their interest.
“Main pelan vee keha si, tey ek vaar fer kehnda haan: MSP di vivastha jari rehe gi. Asi ethey kisana di sewa layi haan. Asi kisana di madad layi harr sambhav yatan karange tey ohna dian aaun valiyaa pirriyaan layi behtar jiwan sunishchit krange”. (I have said this before and I say this once again: the system of MSP will continue. We are here to serve the farmers. We will make all possible efforts to help the farmers and ensure better life for their coming generations),” Modi said in a tweet, hours after the passage of two of the three contentious agricultural legislations by the Rajya Sabha.
The tweets come at a time when BJP’s alliance partner in the NDA, the Shiromani Akali Dal, has taken a strident stand against the legislations. Its MP and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Modi cabinet after the bills were cleared by the Lok Sabha.
The Akali Dal has also appealed to the President not to give his nod to the legislations
Earlier, dubbing the passage of the farm legislations as a “watershed moment”, the Prime Minister said: “For decades our farmers were stuck in several obstacles and they had to deal with the middlemen. With passing of the (farm) bills in the Parliament farmers will get freedom from this.”