BJP president J.P. Nadda on Thursday defended the farm laws cleared by Parliament in the monsoon session and said the opposition to them was led by middlemen, and not farmers.
He was addressing a group of farmers from Delhi and nearby villages at the BJP headquarters here. Mr. Nadda also took a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not implementing the Centre’s scheme to deposit ₹6,000 into every farmer’s account under the ‘Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
“She has been creating hurdles to farmers’ development, but this will not go on for long,” he said. The BJP would be coming to power in West Bengal after next year’s Assembly polls and it would implement the scheme.
Lauding the Modi government for its pro-farmers measures, he said the Congress had only spoken of waiving farmers’ loan and that did not amount to more than ₹54,000-₹55,000 crore in the 10 years of UPA rule.
“But the BJP-led NDA government has so far deposited over ₹92,000 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 10 crore farmers,” Mr Nadda said. By enacting the three farm reform laws, the Modi government had unshackled farmers who could now sell their produce anywhere.
The three Farm Acts are the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.