Govt Drunk on Power, not Listening to Crores of Farmers: Congress

New Delhi, 30 Nov 2020 [Fik/News Sources]: Even as a stalemate between protesting farmers and the Centre on their protest venue in Delhi continued, the opposition Congress on Sunday attacked the government for “being drunk on power and not listening to the voice of farmers”.

“The government is drunk on power… Union Agriculture Minister and Home Minister say there will not be any talks with the farmers till December 3, in this harsh winter. Both Ministers do not have time for farmers until five days?” Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told a press conference.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji should himself talk to the delegation of farmers… Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar should publicly apologise for calling farmers terrorists and filing false cases against them,” the Congress leader said.

The Congress asserted that Modi should leave aside his prejudices and talk openly about abolition of what it dubbed as three “anti-farming black laws”.

“Why did the government target the rationing system, rendering labourers, workers and middlemen in mandis unemployed? When foodgrains will not be purchased at MSP, how will 86 crore people get grains through the public distribution system?” Surjewala asked.

The Congress leader alleged that the Modi government had told another lie to the farmers by telling them that they would be able to sell their crops in other states as well. “As many as 86 per cent farmers in India own less than 5 acres of land each. Out of that, 80 per cent farmers own 2 acres each. If they don’t have the ability to sell outside their district, how will they sell their produce in other states?”

Modi on Sunday asserted that he was committed to the welfare of hardworking farmers, and that the Centre’s new farm laws were a step in this direction.

Refusing to accept the Centre’s offer to shift to the Burari ground in north-west Delhi to hold their proposed protest against the three central farm laws, thousands of farmers continued to rally for the third consecutive day on Sunday at Delhi’s three interstate border points.

Rahul takes a dig at Modi, says it’s time to talk about farmers
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked the Centre over the ongoing farmers protests. Taking a dig at the Prime Minister’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, Rahul said now it is time to talk about the farmers.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “The promise was to make farmers’ income double. Income was increased but of Ambani and Adani.

“Those who are justifying the black farm laws, those will not resolve the issue in the farmers’ favour”.

Even as the farmers of Punjab and Haryana continued to rally at Singhu and Tikri border entry points, scores of Uttar Pradesh farmers gathered at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Ghazipur border on Sunday morning in their bid to enter the national capital.

Though the police officials were holding talks with them and were willing to allow them to go to Burari in north-west Delhi where a section of farmers have already been camping, the farmers from Uttar Pradesh rallying under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union — were adamant on visiting Parliament House in central Delhi to lodge their protest against the three farm laws.

Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s advice to farmers to rally in Burari, Sanjay Tyagi, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar, said: “What will we get by going to Burari? Will Amit Shah come there to seek our votes? If he wishes to talk to farmers, he should come on the interstate border.”