New Delhi: As protesting farmers marched towards the national capital Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for various crops, terming it party’s “first guarantee” ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Legal guarantee of MSP is one of the prime demands of the protesting farmers. After talks between farmers and the government failed to reach a resolution, farmers from different parts of the country started reaching the national capital as part of their “Delhi Chalo” march.
“Congress party announces that we will give our farmers a legal guarantee of MSP with mass purchasing. We guarantee purchasing various crops at MSP. When our government comes to power, we will give it as a legal guarantee. This is our first guarantee,” announced Kharge, addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur.
Kharge joined Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is on his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Maharashtra, and is currently passing through Chhattisgarh.
Speaking about the announcement, Rahul Gandhi said, “BJP government gave Bharat Ratna to (M.S.) Swaminathanji, but they are not ready to do what Swaminathan ji said. Swaminathan ji in his report has clearly said that farmers should get legal rights for MSP. That the BJP government is not doing.”
He added, “INDIA (alliance) government will come to power. And then we will give guarantees of MSP to farmers. We will fulfill what’s written in the Swaminathan report.”
Rahul announced that several other announcements for farmers are being prepared in the manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
On the borders of Delhi, police officials in large numbers were seen preparing to stop the protest from entering the capital.
“There (in Delhi), to stop farmers they (authorities) have put cement and on top of it, nails have been put. Is this democracy? If I fight for my rights with the prime minister, you lay down nails before me, create walls, do lathicharge? What kind of democracy is this? He (Modi) doesn’t want the farmers to do well,” said Kharge.
Earlier during the day, addressing a press conference, party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, too, attacked the Modi government over restrictions imposed on farmers’ protest. “Today, the BJP central government and the BJP governments of Haryana-Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh have converted the country’s capital Delhi into a ‘police cantonment’, as if an enemy has attacked the power in Delhi,” said Surjewala.
After Kharge’s announcement, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, too, wrote on X, “Fair price for crops is the right of farmers. They deserve a respectable income, not sticks, bullets, tear gas and violence. Congress party stands with the legitimate demands of the farmers.”
भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस ने किसानों के लिए आज एक ऐतिहासिक फैसला लिया है। पार्टी अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge जी और श्री @RahulGandhi जी ने ऐलान किया है कि कांग्रेस की सरकार स्वामीनाथन आयोग की सिफारिशों को लागू करेगी और देश के हर किसान को इसके मुताबिक न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य (MSP) की कानूनी… pic.twitter.com/GG5RypW97j
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) February 13, 2024
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Barbed wire, concrete slabs, sea of cops & RAF personnel at Singhu border as farmers march to Delhi