Ramdas Athawale slams farmers' protest; 'Rakesh Tikait should not misuse power of farmers'

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday slammed the ongoing farmers' protests led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait against the three farm bills which has now been repealed by the Centre, stating that the agitation should end now and that Tikait should not misuse the power of farmers in the country.  

Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister said, "Farmers should take their protest back, they should go back home and protest should end. Rakesh Tikait should not misuse the power of farmers in a wrong way."

While reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to Mumbai, Athawale said, "Mamata Banerjee is a respectful leader, she has the right to meet anyone. No one is benefitting from this meeting neither Mamata Banerjee nor Congress. As a friend if they are meeting it's a nice thing. If all the opposition even come together, still they will not be able to win against PM Modi. The 2024 election will be won by the Modi government."

Opposition slams government over Farm Laws Repeal Bill

The upper house witnessed the Opposition cause ruckus on Monday demanding discussion over the farm laws repeal bill that has now been passed. Attacking the government over the same, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Opposition welcomes the repeal decision but demands talk over the year-long protest that took place.

Congress also slammed the government over the passage of the farm laws repeal bill in the Lok Sabha. They claimed that all parliamentary norms were "thrown to the wind" as the government passed the bill without a discussion. The party also stated that the government made the decision to repeal the bill in view of the upcoming elections. The Opposition party also said that the result of the laws was seen in the by-polls.

Farm Laws Repeal Bill

The farm laws to be repealed are the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the Centre will officially repeal the three farm laws in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. The three laws were at the centre of farmers' protests that are being held at the Delhi border since last year. Despite PM's assurance of repealing the legislation, farmers have refused to stop their sit-in protests urging the Centre to hold talks with them over Minimum Support Price (MSP), the death of farmers during the protest and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Image: ANI, PTI