On Sunday afternoon, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Punjab to support the farmers who are protesting against the farm laws passed by the Centre in the last month.
Before commencing the tractor rally, Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting, where he assured the farmers that their interest won't get hurt by these new farm laws. Lashing out at the Centre govt on the first day of his tractor rally he said, "If farmers are happy with these new laws, why are they protesting across the nation? Why is every farmer in Punjab protesting?"
He further assured the farmers that Congress will remove these contentious farm laws if they will come to power in the Centre. Minimum Support Price, food procurement, and wholesale markets are the three pillars of the country and PM Modi wants to destroy this system, added Rahul.
Rahul Gandhi asked the Centre to reply to his questions on the behalf of farmers. He said, "What was the need to implement these laws amid COVID 19? Why these laws have been passed in haste? If you had to implement you should have discussed in Lok Sabha-Rajya Sabha."
"If PM says laws are in favor of farmers, why did not you discuss openly in the House?" said Rahul Gandhi.
Notably, three farm laws — The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 — have been passed by Parliament amid protests from the opposition parties. Since then, farmers have come out on the streets across the nation to protest against the laws.
It has been claimed by the farmers and the opposition that these new laws on one side will enable them to sell their produce to corporates anywhere in the country but at the same time will lay them open to exploitation by big companies. Not only this, but the entry of private players into the agricultural sector will eradicate the MSP for their produce.