Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at PM Modi, says farmers do not trust him due to his history of 'asatyagraha'

NEW DELHI:  As the Centre and the farmers held sixth round of talks Wednesday, the Congress on Wednesday said the tillers do not trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government should accept the demands of the farmers. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Modi, saying farmers do not trust the Prime Minister due to his long history of asatyagraha.

“15 lakh in every bank account & 2 crore jobs every year, Give me 50 days time, else... We will win the war against Corona in 21 days. Neither has anyone intruded into our territory nor took over any post; Farmers don’t trust Modi ji due to his long history of ‘asatyagraha’ (sic),” Rahul tweeted. Addressing a press conference, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja and her Uttarakhand counterpart Pritam Singh said the Modi government should not make the farm laws a prestige issue. 

“15 lakh in every bank account & 2 crore jobs every year”

"Give me 50 days time, else..."

"We will win war against Corona in 21 days"

"Neither has anyone intruded into our territory nor took over any post”

Farmers don’t trust Modi ji due to his long history of ‘asatyagraha’.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 30, 2020

Selja said that instead of helping the farmers, the new laws may end up burdening the farmers with taxations as it seeks to regulate through corporatisation. “It is a very important day. We urge the Centre to heed to the farmers and agree to their demands. Repeal the farm laws and then make a fresh start. Give a new year gift to farmers,” she said. “Give the nation a gift. Give the farmer, farmworker a New Year gift.”

She slammed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal asserting that 10 farmers from the state have died while sitting at agitation.

“The state government no longer enjoys the support of the people of the State. Being from a predominantly agricultural state, the Chief Minister should have led a delegation to the Prime Minister as the people in high position may not be aware of ground realities,” she added. Regarding the PM Kisan Yojana, Singh alleged there is fraudulent practice in identifying some of the beneficiaries to transfer Rs 6,000 annually in Uttarakhand.

“New farm laws allow private mandis for procurement and the government-run APMCs will be forced to close down. The government should accept the demands and allow them to go back to their homes,” he said.

Union ministers eat lunch brought by farmer leaders
NEW DELHI: In a ‘positive’ sign, Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal, and Som Prakash on Wednesday afternoon partook of food brought by farmer leaders for lunch at the Vigyan Bhavan here, where the sixth round of talks between the two sides was on. The latest meeting aims to break the deadlock over the demand of the farmers to repeal the three new central farm laws and other issues. During lunch, the three Ministers were seen standing in a queue to take food brought along by 41 farmer leaders for lunch. The meeting started around 2.30 pm at Vigyan Bhavan, where Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal and other Ministry officials were also present at the sixth round of talks in the national capital. 

Punjab Guv concerned over damage to telecom towers
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore on Wednesday took serious note of the vandalism during the ongoing protest of farmers, where in the past few days, more than 1,600 mobile towers have been damaged. The Governor expressed serious concern on the damage to communication installations that are vital for day-to-day affairs of business, educational institutions and government and society in general. “This is a difficult time when education is taking place through online classes, for which such communication lines are vital. Damaging and disrupting communication lines will affect not only students but the whole society and economy also in many ways,” he said, regarding the vandalism.

ound of meeting between them today. (ANI)