President backs new laws, Oppn boycotts his speech

NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday told Parliament that the Union government “has always respected freedom of expression and holding of peaceful agitations in a democratic set-up”, days after a tractor rally by farm unions led to violence and chaos in the national capital, and in a strong defence for the new farm laws, said the benefits of the pieces of legislation, aimed at helping small and marginal farmers, have already started reaching over 100 million farmers.

Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament in a half-empty Central Hall was met with boycott by 18 parties supporting the farmers’ agitation. Congress MP Ravneet Bittu was the only member from any of those parties to enter Central Hall for a few minutes during the speech — he raised slogans protesting against the government’s handling of the farmer agitation.

The President, without naming China, also said that attempts were made to challenge the country’s capability at the border and to “disrupt the peace