Voicing support for the Bharat Bandh call given by farmer organisations to protest the farm bills, the Congress on Friday alleged that the new agriculture laws will "enslave" farmers and claimed that the provision for Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be "snatched away" from them. Various farmer groups have called for a nationwide shutdown on Friday against the three recently passed agriculture bills.
Parliament recently passed the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Randeep Surjewala spoke out against the farm bills and backed the Bharat Bandh. "A flawed GST destroyed MSMEs. The new agriculture laws will enslave our farmers," former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted with the hashtag 'I Support Bharat Bandh'.
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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi also hit out at the government, saying the three farm bills brought by it are reminiscent of the "East India Company rule". MSP given to farmers will be "snatched away" and they will be forced to become slaves of billionaires through contract farming, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi. "Neither will they get a good price nor respect. Farmers will become labourers in their own land. BJP's agriculture bills are a reminder of the East India Company rule. We will not allow this injustice to happen," she tweeted.
The Congress along with many other opposition parties has alleged that newly passed farm bills will harm the interest of farmers and benefit corporates, a claim denied by the government. The Centre has asserted the bills will be beneficial for farmers and increase their income.
