Congress protests outside Parliament demanding repeal of farm laws despite PM Modi's vow

At the beginning of the Winter Session of the Parliament, the Congress party held a demonstration for the repeal of the farm laws. With Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi leading the demonstration, party MPs raised slogans against the BJP-led Central government, flashing placards in their hands which had written in bold letters 'repeal the farm laws'. 

Interestingly, the demonstration was taken out by Congress for the repeal of the farm laws in spite of the BJP making it pretty clear that the farm laws will be repealed. The Parliament reconvened for the Winter Session on November 29,  during which as many as 26 bills are expected to be tabled. The bill to repeal the three farm laws was among the first ones to be tabled. 

Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021

Days after the Prime Minister's announcement, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021. Amid massive Opposition sloganeering, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the environment was not conducive for debates. Hence the Bills were passed via voice vote. In the Rajya Sabha, LoP Mallikarjun Kharge was allowed to speak briefly before the bills were passed with majority votes via voice vote. The bill will now be sent to the President for approval.

After the adjournment of both Houses, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said he was certain that the laws would be repealed.  "We had mentioned earlier that the farm laws would have to be withdrawn. We understood that 3-4 large crony capitalists cannot stand against the might of Indian farmers The issue is how the bills were repealed," he said.

"They (government) withdrew the bills without any discussion or debate. It shows that the government is terrified of discussion. We wanted to discuss the forces behind the bills. We wanted to discuss MSP, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and the death of farmers during protests," he added.

The farm laws to be repealed are the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm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

Image: ANI