NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reiterated that the government is ready for talks with agitating farmers on the farm laws while slamming political opponents for spreading “falsehoods and rumours” about the agrarian legislation.
Stating that the government is working to create “Brand India” in agriculture for the international market, the Prime Minister spoke at length about the benefits of the farm laws, including private investments, to spur the income of the farmers.
“I cannot even utter what has been said by politically motivated people. Still, I want to assure that the government is ready for talks with even such political ideology driven people, who are our critics, on facts and substance of the farm laws,” said the Prime Minister in a video conference speech for which the BJP had made arrangements across the country in which Union Ministers, MPs and MLAs took part.
The Prime Minister said there’s an attempt to stoke the farmers’ protests as fodder for political interests of certain people. “There’s a kind of event management going on. People are taking selfies and coming on television. There’s an attempt to harass the people of Delhi and hurt the economy. Big speeches are being given at the protest venue to grab the headlines. But the same set of people driven with certain political ideology will not protest in Kerala where there is no agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC) or West Bengal where 70 lakh farmers have been deprived of the benefits of PM Kisan Nidhi scheme,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also hit out at the Opposition parties, saying that the farmers’ protests in the beginning had raised genuine concerns about the minimum support prices (MSP), but later all sorts of political issues, including demands for the release of those who are in jails on charges of violence, are being raised. The Prime Minister charged that the farmers suffered the most for decades when such parties were in power at the Centre.