NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned the very intent of the three farm laws and said the idea behind it is to allow selected industrialists to buy and hoard unlimited quantity of foodgrains. On the other hand, defence minister Rajnath Singh said the government is ready to amend the agri laws if needed but said the farmers agitating against the legislations are being "misled".
Here are the key developments of the day:
1. Lending his support to the ongoing farmers protests, Rahul Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha that it was not an agitation of the farmers only but a movement of the country and the government will have to repeal the laws. Gandhi also dramatically led his party members and those from the TMC and the DMK to observe a two-minute silence by standing to mourn the death of "200 farmers" during the ongoing agitation and said he was doing this as the government has not paid tributes to those who died during the protests. "The intent of the three laws are to allow industrialists to buy unlimited quantity of foodgrains and hoard them as much as they want," he alleged. Gandhi cited the old family planning slogan 'hum do hamare do' to attack the government and said just four-five people are running the country. "The new farm laws will destroy India's food security system and will hurt the rural economy," he said. The Congress leader also said that the farmers are not going anywhere but will overthrow the government.
2. Defence minister Rajnath Singh asserted the government is ready to talk openly on the new agricultural laws and amend them if needed even as he said the farmers agitating against the legislations are being "misled". Singh, a former agriculture minister, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already clarified in Parliament that the existing MSP (minimum support price) system will continue and that the transactions under the new laws will be for the farmers' produce and not for their land. In an address at an online event organised by the Madhya Pradesh government, the defence minister said the new farms laws were enacted to ensure the right price to the farmers for their produce and help them sell their produce anywhere in the country. "An atmosphere of confusion was created and it was said that the wholesale market will no longer exist, the MSP system will come to an end and the land of the farmers would be mortgaged," he said, adding the farmers were "misled" and these confusions were created by people with "vested interests". "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said very clearly in the Parliament recently that there was MSP, there is MSP and there will be MSP," he said.
3. Rahul Gandhi will hold meetings with farmers during his two-day visit to Rajasthan from Friday. Gandhi will address the first meeting at a wholesale market in Hanumangarh's Pilibanga at 11.30 am, followed by the second meeting in Padampur in Sri Ganganagar at 3 pm. Next day, he will reach Kishangarh airport in Ajmer district and visit Tejaji temple in Sursura and hold dialogues with farmers. Later, he will interact with farmers in Rupangarh and address a farmers rally at Makrana in Nagaur district.
4. The Delhi High Court sought response of the AAP government and police on a plea seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the death of a 25-year-old man who died after his tractor overturned during the protesting farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day. Justice Yogesh Khanna issued notice to the Delhi government, Delhi Police, Uttar Pradesh Police and the chief medical officer of district hospital at Rampur, where the post mortem was carried out. The court sought their stand on the petition moved by the deceased Navreet Singh's grandfather who has claimed that the victim has suffered gunshot injuries to his head. The court directed the Delhi Police to file a status report with regard to the investigation on or before the next date of hearing on February 26. Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra, appearing for the police, told the court that according to instructions received by him, Singh died as result of over-turning of his tractor at ITO here during the violent clash between farmers and the police personnel. Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the victim's grandfather, told the court that the way Delhi Police has conducted itself in the matter "does not inspire a shred of confidence".
5. Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar backed the three contentious farm laws, saying these legislation are in the interest of farmers and not against them. Speaking to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar said his party is with the government on the issue and that the centre has opted for the right path by holding talks with the farmer unions agitating against the three laws. "Hopefully, the issue will be resolved soon," the BJP ally said. Kumar also made light of the claims of rival parties, including Lalu Prasad's RJD, that his government in Bihar will not last its full term, saying if they are getting publicity out of it, then there is nothing wrong with that. He added in the same vein that these leaders are ignorant of realities. This was Kumar's first meeting with Modi after his government assumed office in November last year.
6. Farmers protesting at the borders of the national capital for over two months will return home if the government was to include a guarantee through a law for purchase of their crops at an administered price or MSP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said in the Rajya Sabha. Participating in the discussion on the budget for 2021-21, Naresh Gujral said the farmers are on the street because they feel the market will be snatched from them. The minimum support price (MSP) based procurement of crops like wheat and paddy by government agencies provides market at the doorstep of farmers, he said, adding the new laws provide for private mandis to come in. "They (farmers) can take production risk but they cannot take marketing risk," he said. "After these laws, they will have to go to private mandis and will not get MSP." "Who is procuring at MSP? Only state agencies, not private procurers," he said. Farmers want MSP to be enshrined in the law, he added. The prime minister has promised that MSP will stay but what is stopping the government from including it in the law, Gujral asked.
7. Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the farmers' agitation against the new agri laws "sacred" after facing flak for his 'andolanjivi' remark. Prime Minister Modi in Lok Sabha on Wednesday had asserted that he holds the farmers' agitation "sacred" and had made a fresh appeal to them to resume talks with the centre. Two days earlier, during his speech in Rajya Sabha, Modi had sought to make a distinction between 'andolankari' (agitators) and 'andolanjivi', a barb for people who jump from one protest to another. The 'andolanjivi' remark was criticised by opposition parties, including the Congress, and the farmer unions protesting against the laws at various Delhi border points since last November. The "black" farm laws will destroy the farming community, Rajewal, who is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), said while addressing a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' at Jagraon in Ludhiana, a first such in Punjab.
8. Installation of CCTV cameras for enhanced security, electric fans to beat the heat in the coming months and even a separate optical fibre line for wifi facility in case there is another internet shutdown at the protest site. These are some of the measures taken by the agitating farmers at the Singhu border to prepare for a long haul as a resolution of the stalemate over the new farm legislation seems unlikely anytime soon. The leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, leading the protest, have reiterated to continue the agitation indefinitely till the Modi government scraps the three contentious farm laws and extends a legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops. "We are strengthening our communication and other infrastructure to continue the agitation for a long period," said Deep Khatri associated with managing logistics at the Singhu Border protest site. To increase security measures and keep miscreants at bay, 100 CCTV cameras with digital video recorders are being installed at the main stage used by the Morcha and also at some identified spots across the protest site's stretch on the GT Karnal Road. "We are also readying a control room behind the main stage for monitoring and keeping a tab on the happenings here as a lot of people come and go everyday, " Khatri said.
9. The government asserts discussions were held on the controversial agri laws but according to an RTI reply, there is no record, senior Trinamool Congress leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said in Parliament and wondered whose words were to be believed. Participating in a discussion on Budget 2021, he said thousands of farmers are protesting at various Delhi borders against the new laws, which, he alleged, were brought by the government to open the farm sector to corporates. Farmers are very angry and therefore no solution could emerge despite several rounds of discussions held between the central government and protesting farmers unions, he said and added that reasons behind farmers' anger is also reasonable. Hitting out at the Centre for bringing the farm laws without proper consultations, Ray said, "Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had publicly said the bills were discussed with lakhs of people. An electronic media organisation through an RTI had asked for names of farm bodies with which the government held discussions on the bills. But the RTI information commissioner said it has no record. Whose words we believe? Minister or RTI..."
10. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he held a "good discussion" with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on many important issues, including on the two nations' commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue. Trudeau made a telephone call to prime minister Modi on Wednesday. "I had a good discussion with Prime Minister @NarendraModi on many important issues, and we've agreed to stay in touch," Trudeau tweeted. "The leaders discussed Canada and India's commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue," the Canadian Prime Minister's office said in a statement, in an apparent reference to the ongoing agitation by farmers in India. Trudeau in December said that Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests, and had expressed concern over the situation, evoking a strong reaction from India. India later summoned Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel and told him that the comments made by Prime Minister Trudeau and others in his cabinet on the farmers' protest constituted an "unacceptable interference" in the country''s internal affairs and these actions, if continued, will have a "seriously damaging" impact on the bilateral ties.