Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described the suspension of three agricultural laws as ‘Modi’s move’ on Sunday, stating that the formal notification for their repeal is still pending. He also mentioned that if the Congress comes to power in 2024, they will revoke these laws.
His statement comes after some farmer organisations have given a call to “Delhi Chalo protest” to their supporters on February 13 for their demands of the law on MSP and others. They are likely to sit at the border of Delhi till their demands are met.
While addressing the Congress workers convention in Punjab, Kharge said that the Modi government has ruined farmers and soldiers in the last 10 years.
“The farmer is sitting on the border of Delhi; no one talked to them. All three black laws have been suspended but the notification to cancel them has not yet come. ‘Ye Modi ki chaal hai’. The Modi government has done the work of breaking our farmers and youth, who were the backbone of the country. I congratulate the farmers of Punjab that they have again reached Delhi for their rights. All Congress Party people will remain associated with his movement. They (BJP) brought a law to hand over farmers’ land to big corporates. We fought to repeal these laws and will continue to fight in future too,” he said.
“If they (central government) do not repeal the three farm laws, our government will be formed in 2024 and we will remove these laws,” he added.
Further, Mallikarjun Kharge said that the BJP government brought the Agniveer Scheme for four years but at the same time cancelled the regular recruitment in the armed forces.
“Farmers were called terrorists and agitators. Should such a party get votes in Punjab? BJP again brings Agniveer scheme for 4 years. They cancelled the regular recruitment. There is a vacancy of 30 per cent in defence. Do you want Agniveer or join the regular force? Whatever Modi ji is doing today, he is doing it against farmers and soldiers,” Kharge said.
The Congress President further mentioned that the budget was also not spent completely on farmers. Out of that, Rs 1 lakh crore was withdrawn.
“Every day that Congress abuses Rahul Gandhi. The person who travelled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and now from Manipur to Mumbai, how can you abuse him? Modi Ji’s face is there in every election. When you open the TV in the morning, you don’t see God but Modi ji. If you work for the poor, we will also appreciate you. But the poor in this country are becoming poorer,” he said.
Kharge also added that PM Modi appreciated former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose tenure a lot of developments took place.
“Yesterday, when the White Paper was being discussed in Parliament, Modi ji praised our leader, Manmohan Singh. Everyone praises the work of Manmohan Singh. A lot of development took place during his time. Modi ji keeps saying that 80 crore people are being given free rations. Who brought this law? Sonia Gandhi introduced the Food Security Act. He (PM Modi) wants to take credit for everything. There was a 135 per cent increase in MSP from 2004 to 2014 under UPA. There has been only a 50 per cent increase in NDA from 2014 to 2023,” the Congress President said.
Slamming the BJP government, Kharge said that the person who starts being worshipped in politics moves towards dictatorship. “This is democracy and everyone has to work together in this. Just saying Modi-Modi does not fill the stomach,” he said.
“Pandit Nehru said in 1952 that we are successful in general elections only where we have worked among the people. If we do not remain among the people, we cannot hope to win their trust. I tell the Congress workers that if we want to win, we will have to live among the people,” he added.