Agri laws cleared without debate, BJP to face farm fury: Pawar

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 chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday.

Addressing a rally organised here to expresssolidarity with the farmers agitating near Delhi, Pawar alsohit out at Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari forheading to Goa at a time when peasants from the state were tosubmit a memorandum to the latter against the new farm laws.

He alleged Koshyari, who is also the Goa governor,had time to meet Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut after theBMC last year demolished parts of her office here, but has notime for farmers.

The former Union agriculture minister accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi of not enquiring about the condition offarmers agitating near Delhi borders against the farm laws fortwo months now in cold weather.

Maharashtra Revenue Minister and state Congress chiefBalasaheb Thorat, All India Kisan Sabha general secretaryHannan Mollah and others also addressed the rally held at theAzad Maidan 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 thelaw, Pawar said during the rally.

Pawar alleged that the farm laws were passed withoutdetailed discussion in Parliament despite the oppositionparties demanding deliberations on the bills concerned.

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

...people (leaders from opposition) opposed it. Butthe laws were declared passed without discussion. This is theinsult of the Constitution, he alleged.

He said the farmers fight is not easy as those whoare in power are not affectionate towards the protesters.

Pawar hailed the farmers from Punjab for theircontribution in the countrys freedom struggle and protectingit during the wars against China and Pakistan post-independence.

''It has been 60 days since the farmers from Punjab,Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan are protesting nearDelhi.

''Did the country's PM enquire about (the farmers)? Itwas mentioned that the farmers are from Punjab. Does Punjabmean Pakistan?'' Pawar asked.

The NCP president said the leaders of the farmers whoattended the rally in Mumbai were to submit a memorandum toKoshyari.

We have not seen such a Governor in thehistory of Maharashtra. Lakhs of people have come here (atAzad Maidan). They were to submit a memorandum to theGovernor.

''But the Governor has gone to Goa. He has time to meetKangana, but not my farmer, Pawar alleged.

The NCP chief said it was the moral responsibility ofthe Governor to meet the farmers, but the latter did notfulfil his duty.

But he does not have that courtesy. He should have atleast sat in the Raj Bhavan, Pawar charged on Twitter later.

However, the Raj Bhavan later clarified that therepresentatives of the Samyukta Shetkari Morcha, whichorganised the rally, were informed in advance that theGovernor would not be able to meet the delegation on Monday ashe would be in Goa to address its Goa.

It was already cleared (to Morcha representatives)that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has additional charge ofGoa Governors post and he would address the session of theGoa Assembly on January 25 and hence, will not be able to meetthe farmers delegation, the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.

Speaking at the rally, Thorat termed the farmersstir near Delhi as unprecedented.

The farm laws are for capitalists, hoarders andprofiteers. the laws were passed without discussion, theMaharashtra minister alleged.

Thorat claimed there will be no MSP and marketcommittees (APMCs) once the farm laws are implemented.

The Congress leader said the Maharashtra governmentwants to pass laws which will be in the interest of farmers.

No Shiv Sena leader or minister was seen at the rally,but the farmers' bodies claimed the ruling party had extendedits support to the agitation.

The Shiv Sena heads the MVA government in which theCongress and the NCP are partners.

The new agri laws seek to encourage private trade,contract farming and remove stock 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.)