Pawar warns govt, says farmers will 'destroy' new agri laws

The Centre may pass any lawundermining the Constitution and on the back of itsmajority, but once the common man and farmers rise, they willnot keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling partyare destroyed, NCP president Sharad Pawar said on Monday.

The former Union agriculture minister also accusedPrime Minister Narendra Modi of not enquiring about thecondition of farmers agitating near Delhi borders against theCentre's farm laws for two months now in cold weather.

Addressing a rally organised here to expresssolidarity with the farmers agitating near Delhi, Pawar hitout at Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for headingto Goa at a time when peasants from the state were to submit amemorandum to the latter against the farm laws.

Pawar said Koshyari, who holds the additional chargeof Goa, had time to meet Bollywood actress Kangana Ranautafter the BMC last year demolished parts of her office here,but has no time for farmers.

MaharashtraRevenue Minister and state Congress chiefBalasaheb Thorat, All India Kisan Sabha general secretaryHannan Mollah and others also addressed the rally held at AzadMaidan in south Mumbai.

You may pass any law undermining the Constitution,not keeping in with the reputation of Parliament anddestroying the Parliamentary system on the back of yourmajority.

But remember one thing, once the common man andfarmers of the country rise, whether you withdraw the laws ornot, they will not keep quiet until they destroy you and thelaws, Pawar said during the rally.

''It has been 60 days since the farmers from Punjab,Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan are protesting nearDelhi. Did the countrys PM enquire about (the farmers)? ''It was mentioned that the farmers are from Punjab.

Does Punjab mean Pakistan?'' Pawar asked.

The NCP patriarch alleged that the farm laws werepassed without detailed discussion in Parliament despiteopposition parties demanding deliberations on the billsconcerned.

The bills could have been discussed by a selectcommittee, but that did not happen, he said.

...people (from opposition) opposed it. But the lawswere declared passed without discussion. This is the insult ofthe Constitution, the Rajya Sabha MP said, hitting out at theBJP-led government at the Centre.

Pawar said the leaders of farmers who attended therally in Mumbai were to submit a memorandum to Koshyari.

We have not seen such a Governor in the history ofMaharashtra. Lakhs of people have come here.

''They were to submit a memorandum to the Governor.

But the Governor has gone to Goa. He has time to meet Kangana,but not my farmers, Pawar alleged.

The NCP leader said it was the moral responsibility ofthe Governor to meet farmers, but the latter did not dischargethat duty.

The new agri laws, enacted in September last year,seek to encourage private trade, contract farming and removestock limit on foodgrains.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehensionthat the new laws would pave the way for eliminating thesafety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with themandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)