Congress protests across Haryana over farm Bills

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 21

The Congress organised protests over farm Bills across the state today. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda addressed party workers in Sonepat, state unit president Kumari Selja in Jind and Haryana in charge Vivek Bansal in Panipat.

Hooda said people of Haryana would not tolerate the attack on rights of farmers and the Congress would protest if any attempt was made to take away their rights.

He described the three farm Bills as an attack on the minimum support price (MSP) and mandi system, developed over the last 70 years.

“The government made a law to encourage purchase outside the market, but there was no reference to protection under the MSP,” he said.

On Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala’s statement that he would resign if MSP was not given, Hooda said anyone who felt that the MSP had not been hit yet should go to mandis and check.

“Crops like paddy, millet, cotton, moong and maize are being sold at a much lower rate than MSP. There is no provision in the new laws of having MSP outside mandis,” he said.

“Everyone knows that the aim of an open market is to get rid of MSP. If the farmer could get a good rate in the open market, there would have been no need to arrange MSP,” he said.

Describing the three farm Bills as an attempt to make farmers slaves of capitalists, Selja said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar did not have the courage to raise his voice before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dushyant was not raising his voice in support of farmers.

She alleged that the Prime Minister did not believe in dialogue and the way in which these Bills had been passed in the Rajya Sabha was murder of democracy.

Bansal said the three laws were like a ‘Tughlaqi farman’ for farmers. “The Prime Minister dreams at night and executes it the next morning,” he claimed.

In Jhajjar, former Assembly Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian said the names of Prime Minister Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar would be embossed in black.

Capt Ajay Singh Yadav led the protest in Rewari. The protest was led by former MLA Raghbir Singh Tewatia in Faridabad.

Mullana MLA Varun Chaudhary, Naraingarh legislator Shalley Chaudhary and state Congress treasurer Rohit Jain were present during the protest in Ambala.