New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday afternoon met farmer leaders from six states on Parliament premises and assured them that the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties would “press the government” to provide a legal guarantee on the minimum price support (MSP).
Gandhi, who met 12 farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, earlier created quite a stir when he claimed they were not being allowed entry into the Parliament premises.
“We invited them, but they are not allowing them inside Parliament. They are farmers, maybe this is why...You will have to ask the Prime Minister the reason for this,” Gandhi said.
However, he later met them in the company of other Congress MPs like KC Venugopal, Deepender Singh Hooda, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
Rahul Gandhi On Promises Made In Manifesto
Following the interaction, Gandhi said in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, “The Congress had promised a legal guarantee for the MSP. We did an assessment and it can be done.”
He further stated that in the meeting with the farmer leaders, it was decided that the INDIA bloc parties would try and “press the government for its implementation”.
.jpg)
The farmers’ meeting with Congress leaders came on a day when the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the governments of Haryana and Punjab to suggest names for a proposed committee to look into the farmer's demand for a legal guarantee of MSP.
Observation Made By A 3-Judge Bench Led By Justice Surya Kant
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Surya Kant said there is a need for a "neutral umpire" who can inspire confidence between farmers and the government.
"You have to take some steps to reach out to farmers. Why would they otherwise want to come to Delhi? You are sending Ministers from here and despite their best intentions there is a trust deficit," the bench also comprising justices Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan, reported the Bar and Bench.
The apex court also ordered a status quo for a week on the Shambhu border where farmers have been camping since February 13 in support of their demand for a legal guarantee of MSP.
Farmers On Their Plan For A March To Delhi
The farmers announced that they would continue with their plan for a march to Delhi. One of the farmer leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, accused the government of failing to fulfill its promises and said “The implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report is a must. We will continue our march to Delhi.”
Meanwhile, the farmer leaders said they were also promised by the Congress that besides raising their demand for legal guarantee for MSP it would also seek a probe into the firing on farmers during protests held by them in Haryana.
The farmers, who had laid a nearly year-long siege on Delhi in 2020- 21 to protest against the new farm laws, had resumed their protests earlier this year to seek implementation of the assurances made earlier. They again tried to march to Delhi; however, while marching towards the national capital from Punjab, they were stopped at the Khanauri and Shambhu borders of the state with Haryana. This year there have been eight alleged deaths during these protests of which five were farmers and three were police personnel.
In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for the agriculture and allied sectors.
