New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday sought President Ram Nath Kovind’s intervention for withdrawal of the three farm laws and said a memorandum signed by two crore farmers would be handed over to him on December 24 by a party delegation led by Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress has been supporting the farmers agitation and seeking the withdrawal of the Central farm legislations. A delegation of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had met the president with the same demand a few days ago.
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said the delegation of Congress leaders led by the former party chief will meet the President on Thursday.
Around 2 crore farmers’ signature have been collected from across the country, he said, while seeking the President’s intervention for annulling the three legislations.
“A delegation of Congress MPs and leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be submitting a memoranda of appeal bearing these 2 crore signatures to the President on December 24, urging his intervention for annulling the three black laws,” Venugopal said in a statement.
He said the Congress party had launched a nationwide campaign for collecting memoranda of appeals addressed to the President of India signed by the farmers, farm labourers and other stakeholders opposing these legislations right from the initial stage of introduction of these bills in Parliament.
Lakhs of farmers have been protesting in the freezing weather against the three “blatantly anti-agriculture” laws aimed at “bartering their interests in the hands of select crony capitalist friends of the (Narendra) Modi government”, the AICC general secretary said.
The protesting farmers have been blocked from entering the national capital for the last 27 days despite prior notice and peaceful intent, he alleged.
“The three anti-farmers legislation have caused immense pain and anguish among the farmers and farm labourers across India. The farmers have been requesting the Government of India to annul these anti-farmers legislations and since the last few days, they are sitting on an indefinite strike,” Venugopal said.
He said 44 farmers have already lost their lives during the ongoing protests.
The Congress along with other political parties had vehemently opposed the bills inside and outside Parliament. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress leaders undertook an extensive ‘tractor yatra’ across Punjab and Haryana, as also in different states, Venugopal said.
“The arrogant Modi government having initially duped the farmers’ group by putting on a conciliatory face, soon made its intransigence apparent.
“It has become absolutely clear that the Modi Government is only committed to the welfare of large corporates instead of innocent farmers and farm labourers,” he said in the statement.
The government has been on an overdrive using public money to create false propaganda and narrative in favour of the “draconian farmers’ bills and discrediting the protesting farmers”, he alleged.
The Congress leader also accused the government of pushing “manufactured surveys” in the media to create support in favour of these laws.
“From taking the government head-on in Parliament, where it blatantly and undemocratically suspended opposition MPs and labelled us as anti-national, the government has chosen to brazenly defame, discredit and eventually tire out the lakhs of protesting farmers. The Modi government and its ministers have chosen to insult them,” Venugopal said.
Also read: Why Congress has consistently failed to translate farmer outreach into election wins