‘Congress’ boat sinking’: Shivraj Chouhan in attack on opposition over farmers’ stir
Chouhan’s attack against opposition parties came a day before the farmers called for a Bharat Bandh, a nationwide strike on Tuesday.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday hit out at the opposition parties including Congress over protests against the farm reforms recently passed by Parliament. Speaking at a press conference in Hyderabad, Chouhan said, “Congress’ boat is sinking and that is why they are trying to save themselves by misleading farmers.”
“Today I will expose the hypocrisy of Congress and other political parties including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Left parties on the farm laws,” Chouhan said. “Sharad Pawar Sahab wrote to me in 2011: ‘There’s need to amend Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act on lines of model APMC Act to encourage private sector investment in marketing, infrastructure and providing alternate competitive marketing channels in the overall interest of farmers, consumers and agriculture trade’,” Chouhan added.
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He further said that the “government stands with the farmers” and will “clarify their doubts and resolve their issues.” “We won’t spare those elements who may try to create chaos in the country under the cover of farmers’ protest,” Chouhan also said.
Chouhan’s attack against opposition parties came a day before the farmers called for a Bharat Bandh, a nationwide strike on Tuesday. The call has been supported by several political parties including Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, AAP, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), TMC, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Earlier in the day, Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal met the farmers protesting at the Singhu border along with his cabinet. During the visit, Kejriwal briefly interacted with farmers and inspected the arrangements made by the city administration for them.
The AAP has also announced to hold a peaceful demonstration on Tuesday in Delhi in support of the farmers.
The farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
