BJP ally RLP threatens to quit NDA if Modi govt doesn’t withdraw farm laws
India

BJP ally RLP threatens to quit NDA if Modi govt doesn’t withdraw farm laws

RLP convenor and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal also said that recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission should be implemented.

   
Farmers stand in front of police barricades at the Singhu Border between Delhi and Haryana Friday | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Farmers stand in front of police barricades at the Singhu Border between Delhi and Haryana Friday | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) has asked the Centre and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately withdraw the farm laws, failing which it would quit the alliance.

RLP convenor and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal said, “Amit Shah ji, in view of the ongoing farmers’ protest in the country, the three farm bills should be immediately withdrawn. All recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission should be implemented. At the same time, as per the wish of the farmers, they should be given an appropriate time and space for a dialogue”.

 

The UPA government had constituted the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) on 18 November 2004, under the chairmanship of M.S. Swaminathan. The main objective of the commission was to develop a system for sustainability in the farming system and, at the same time, make it more profitable.

“Though RLP is an NDA ally, farmers and jawans are RLP’s strength. So if prompt action is not taken in this matter, I will have to rethink on the issue of being a partner of the NDA in the interest of farmers!” Beniwal said.

RLP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Rajasthan in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).


Also read: Farmers’ protest a big challenge for Modi. Bigger than demonetisation, GST


Farmers’ protest continues

On 26 November, Beniwal had urged the Modi government to withdraw the new agricultural laws. He had also said that governments of nearby states such as Haryana should not adopt any oppressive policy against the farmers. He had warned that in case this is done, his party would hold demonstrations across the country, including in Rajasthan, in support of the farmers.

Several farmers’ organisations, mostly in Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at the Delhi border, protesting against the central government’s three new farm laws.

The protesting farmers entered Haryana Thursday from various points at its border with Punjab, braving water cannons and tear gas shells during their ‘Dilli Chalo’ rally. One of the major demands of the farmers is that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) be made a legal provision to assure a better price to them.

Shah had appealed to the protesting farmers to shift to the Burari ground in Delhi to stage their protests, and had assured that the government was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they moved to the designated place. However, the proposal was rejected by the farmers who continue to protest at the Ghazipur-Ghaziabad (Delhi-UP) border and Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border).


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