NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi government of branding every person opposing it a 'Maoist' and an 'antinational', and urged the Centre to accede to the demands of the protesting farmers.
The Opposition party's assertion came a day after Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said some "anti-social elements" are conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasants'’ movement under the guise of farmers, and appealed to the protesting farming community to be vigilant against their platform being misused.
Also, Food, Railway and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal was more direct in his charge, alleging that certain Leftist and Maoist elements seem to have taken "control" of the agitation and rather than discussing farmer issues, they seem to be having some other agenda.
Tagging a media report on Goyal’s remarks, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, "Mr. Modi, autocracy has no place in democracy. Yours and your ministers' policy is to declare every opponent a Maoist and an antinational."
"Apologise to the farmers who are on a sit-in braving the fierce cold and rains, and accede to their rightful demands immediately," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Former party chief Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, asked how many more sacrifices will farmers have to make to get the legislations repealed by citing a media report to claim that 11 farmers had died in the last 17 days while protesting against the new agri laws.
"How many more sacrifices will the farmers have to make to get the agri laws repealed?" Gandhi asked in a tweet in Hindi, tagging a media report which claimed that 11 protesting farmers had lost their lives in the last 17 days due to various reasons such as ill health or a mishap.