Priyanka terms farm laws’ repeal ‘poll gimmick’, Yogi says govt failed to explain it

Demanding compensation for the family members of farmers who died during the protests, BSP chief Mayawati sought government jobs for them, whereas AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reminded the public of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and the words used to refer to the protesting farmers, including “andolanjivi” and “atankwadi”.

“Farmers were protesting against the three farm laws and on the occasion of Guruparva, the Prime Minister, while using the language of dialogue in democracy, has taken the historic decision to repeal the three farm laws,” said Adityanath. Welcoming the move, he said, “Yadyapi shuru se hi is sambandh mein ek bara samudaye aisa tha jo is baat ko manta tha ki kisanon ki amdani ko barhane ke liye is prakar ke kanoon mehatvapurna bhumika ka nirvahan kar sakte hain… (Since the very beginning, a large section believed that such laws could play a significant role in increasing the income of farmers),” adding that the government did try to establish dialogue.

He further said, “Yeh ho sakta hai humare staar pe kahin kami, apni baat samjhane mein kahin na kahin vifal rahe (It might be possible that there were some shortcomings at our end, we failed to explain our point of view).”

Meanwhile, referring to Modi’s apology and repealing of the laws as an election gimmick, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said, “Is the country not able to understand that elections are coming… they must have felt that the situation is not apt for them… Vidhan Sabha survey has come and, in it, the situation does not appear right for them. Now they have come to apologise before the elections.”

Reminding people about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, Priyanka said the Prime Minister was silent and did not say anything, nor did he visit the victims despite being in Lucknow. “They gave patronage to murderers and now they are apologising when more than 600 to 700 farmers have been martyred,” said Priyanka, remembering the families of farmers who were crushed under the cavalcade of SUVs.

Asking the public to understand that leaders of the same government had referred to the protesting farmers using terms including “andolanjivi, gunde, atankwadi and desh droh”, Priyanka said, “How can we trust your intentions today,” adding that it was the Prime Minister himself who referred to the farmers as “andolanjivi”.

Mayawati said the decision to repeal the laws should have been taken much earlier. “It (the repeal) is the result of the sacrifices of the farmers on protest. However, the central government decided to repeal the laws after much delay. This decision should have been taken quite early to avoid several clashes and troubles,” the BSP chief said, pointing out that central and state governments should properly consult farmers before making any new law that would affect them. She also sought a national law to fix the minimum support price for farmers during the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

‘Defeat of arrogance,’ says Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also reacted saying the decision to repeal the three farm laws was taken keeping an eye on elections and “in order to get votes” in the upcoming elections.

The SP chief also announced a slogan – “Saaf nahi hai inka dil, Chunav baad phir layenge Bill” (Their intentions are not good, they will bring back the Bills after elections) — at a press conference at the party headquarters in Lucknow.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (file photo)

Akhilesh said, “On this auspicious occasion, I would like to congratulate all the farmers of the country. It was because of their struggle that today, three Black Laws were withdrawn. The withdrawal of the three Black laws is a defeat of arrogance and victory of farmers and democracy. The people will not forgive and will clean sweep them. The lies of someone will not work in front of the deaths of hundreds of farmers. Those who have apologised should also promise to quit politics forever. They think that this fake apology will help them come back to power. The people understand them.”

“These laws have been repealed because of the elections in the country. Their primary focus is votes, not farmers. They want votes,” said Akhilesh.

“The government is scared of the elections and the laws have been repealed for votes. They didn’t consider the farmers. And they humiliated the farmers so much. The kind of vocabulary used for farmers was unimaginable for ‘annadaatas’,” he added.

(Inputs from ENS)