Congress' Pallam Raju says 'insecure' farmers protesting as Centre unwilling to hold talks

The Congress party on Tuesday, October 12, attacked the BJP-led Centre and said that the government is not willing to hold talks concerning the three farm laws which were passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha without the farmers' consent. Senior Congress leader MM Pallam Raju stated that farmers have been protesting against the farm laws for so long as they are insecure with its implementation. 

Speaking to the media, MM Pallam said, "The three farm laws were passed without any discussion in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha because they had strength in both the houses. The result is that the farmers are protesting against the three laws and the government is not willing to start talks afresh".

He added that insecurity over the farm laws is the reason for farmers protest. 

He further slammed the BJP government and said, “The hasty implementation of GST and demonetization has crippled the economy.”

Speaking of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on small businesses, the Congress leader said, “Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the livelihood of small and medium entrepreneurs has been affected and there is no support from the government".

Earlier on October 8, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal had said that the government has been ignoring farmers and have never listened to their opinion on three farm laws passed in September, last year. 

MSP and farmers protest

The country farmers have protested a long time to legalise MSP for all crops and remove the three farm laws. But, the government has stated that making Minimum Support Price (MSP) legal for all crops will put a burden of Rs 17 lakh crore on the government exchequer annually. The figure was calculated on the basis of the total production and MSP declared by the Centre for 23 crops that covered over 80 per cent of India’s total agricultural production.

Currently, farmers are protesting against the three farm laws and also in connection Lakhimpur violence incident in where four farmers, two BJP workers, a driver, and a journalist were killed. The incident occurred when farmers were protesting against the Centre's three farm laws at Lakhimpur Kheri outside an event venue where Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was scheduled to be present. 

(With ANI input)

(Image: ANI)