New Delhi: The farmers’ protest at the Delhi-Haryana border was the central topic of discussion on prime time Tuesday night but with a political twist.
Republic Bharat anchor Arnab Goswami hit out at the Congress and called for a boycott of the party for “pretending” to care about the farmers’ movement. Mirror Now and NDTV 24×7 covered the protests as well. On Aaj Tak, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had an interesting suggestion to help explain the farm laws to the farmers — a powerpoint presentation.
Mirror Now discussed if a “mid-point” consensus was the way out of the deadlock between farmers and the government. While a meeting was held between farmers’ representatives and the central government Tuesday, it was inconclusive.
“There has to be a complete change in the attitude and intent of the government. The law affects the whole country. Sitting with 32 farmer organisations from Punjab cannot give a solution,” Jai Kisan Andolan Convenor Avik Saha told anchor Sahar Zaman.
Congress’ Abhishek Dutta noted, “It should be made very clear that MSP (Minimum Support Price) will be given to the farmers. They are not putting this as part of the bill. The farmers have a very basic demand and they are very clear.”
However, BJP’s Gopal K. Agarwal replied, “MSP is a complicated issue. The farmers have a right to demand but you cannot force the government to just accept whatever anybody demands. There has to be a dialogue.”
On NDTV 24×7, anchor Vishnu Som spoke to Congress MP from Haryana, Deependar Hooda, about the controversial farm laws and the farmers’ demands.
“There is a certain process of making legislation, which the government has completely subverted. Usually, all farmer unions are called and amendments like these are discussed. Especially in agricultural matters, a consensus-based approach has been followed but not this time,” Hooda said.
He added: “Their demand is very simple. The government has paved the way for increased private purchases but it has done that without the legal promise of MSP. The Prime Minister and chief ministers of concerned states have been verbally promising that MSP won’t go away, but a written promise is needed.”
To Som’s question about the rise in MSP since the BJP came to power, Hooda argued, “MSP has gone up but at a slower pace than it was going up before. The government is reducing the budget for FCI (Food Corporation of India) and therefore, MSP-assured purchases will start going down.”
On Republic Bharat’s ‘Puchta hai Bharat’, Arnab Goswami discussed the “politics” that was allegedly fuelling the farmers’ protests.
“Political game hiding behind farmer’s protest,” stated the channel’s ticker.
“Why not boycott those doing politics on farmers?” Goswami asked. “Those indulging in political gimmicks are now showing concern for the farmers.” It was a pointed attack at the Congress, which has been extremely vocal in their support to the farmers.
“People who are doing politics in the name of the farmers’ movement should be careful,” said political analyst Vinay Singh.
However, political analyst Dushyant Nagar argued that the “previous Congress governments worked for farmers”.
Sanjeev Unyal, a political commentator, was not convinced and said that the Congress needed to understand the pain of the farmers.
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi was more direct in his attack and hit out at Rahul Gandhi. He said that the farmers supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not Gandhi.
The Congress was fairly unpopular on Aaj Tak as well.
On his prime time show, anchor Rohit Sardana asked — “When will the government and farmers find a mutually agreed solution?”
“The government has repeatedly tried to talk and appeal to the farmers all through the movement and has also said that the farm laws are for their protection but the Opposition was doing politics over this,” Sardana said.
“The big question is when the government and farmers’ are bringing forth their points, how will they reach a common ground, especially when the Opposition is continuously attacking the government,” the anchor said, hitting out at the Congress.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, however, was more concerned about powerpoint presentations.
“Powerpoint presentation is one of the mediums through which we can communicate with farmers. I want to tell our farmer brothers that it’s our duty to address your concerns. The government will solve your problems. This is all fuelled by a conspiracy, rumours being spread,” Patra said.