Ongoing farmers’ protest in the national capital on Friday became a rallying point for opposition parties. As thousands of farmers from 24 states converged in the national capital to protest the central government’s policies as agrarian crisis deepens in the country, leaders like Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal excoriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for their policies. Gandhi pledged his support to the ongoing farmers’ protest for loan waiver and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of being inclined to favour only corporate houses. Addressing the rally, Gandhi said farmers and youths were the backbones of the country and that “their progress and welfare is imperative”. He criticised the central government for going back on its word on farm loan waiver and adequate minimum support price for agricultural produce.
“The Modi government should implement Swaminathan panel report soon, otherwise farmers will ‘wreak havoc’ in 2019 polls,” Kejriwal said, referring to a panel report on reforms in the agricultural sector. Leaders of 13 opposition parties—Gandhi, Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India’s Sudhakar Reddy, AAP’s Kejriwal, Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, and Loktantrik Janata Dal’s Sharad Yadav—addressed the rally.
Aimed primarily for loan waiver and better prices for their farm produce, the farmers’ rally in the national capital is a culmination of a two-day national protest. Farmers want enactment of two Central laws at a special session of Parliament. The rally comes during assembly elections and just months before the country’s mammoth Parliamentary elections.
