Govt should have consulted Pawar, Badal on farm bills: Praful

Senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Saturday said the Centre could have avoided protests by farmers had it consulted leaders like Sharad Pawar, Parkash Singh Badal and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in connection with framing of new farm laws. Farmers from Punjab and Haryana have been marching towards Delhi demanding repeal of the three farm laws, leading to showdown with the police.

"This (protests by farmers) is the failure of the Central government. The government should have initiated talks with farmers at an early stage and thought twice before bringing the new laws. I feel the government should have consulted leaders like (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar, who was a former agriculture minister, Parkash Singh Badal (former CM of Punjab), H D Deve Gowda (former prime minister) who had worked in the agriculture sector. "After consulting these leaders, the government would have realised lacunae in the new agri bills. Had these things be done in the past, the bill(s) would not have been opposed," the former Union minister said.

On the first anniversary of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra, Patel said it has been a successful year. "Even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government took many good decisions and launched a string of developmental works," he added.