BALLIA: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary on Sunday called on farmers in his constituency Bansdih here not to allow political leaders who are supporting the Centre's agricultural reforms to enter their villages.
The leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly was speaking at a programme organised in Bisuali village.
Thousands of farmers from different states, including Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi's borders for a month now to demand the repeal of the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
The Samajwadi Party has come out in support of agitating farmers.
It held demonstrations in various parts of Uttar Pradesh earlier this month to back the farmers' demand.
Chaudhary said political leaders who are supporting the new farm laws should not be greeted with 'Ram-Ram', 'pranaam' and 'dua-salaam'.
"Giving them water and hookah should also be stopped. They should be stopped from entering the villages," he told the gathering.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
However, protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of minimum support price (MSP) and do away with mandis that ensure income, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the BJP of giving importance to its "capitalist friends" and said the farmers' protest against the new agri laws is an example of the "failure" of the government.
The BJP government at the Centre is making offers to farmers for talks, but on the other hand, it is levelling "baseless allegations" on the protesting farmers, he said in a statement issued here.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, however, did not elaborate on the issue of allegations on farmers.
"This is an insult to farmers, who are staging a sit-in for their rights. The BJP, while supporting its favourite capitalist friends, is walking a path which is against farmers, labourers and those from the lower-middle income group. The government is giving Kisan Samman, but the new farm laws will cause losses worth thousands and lakhs to farmers," Yadav said.
The former chief minister also said that after the BJP came to power, bad times started for farmers.
"The current farmers' agitation is a living example of the failure of the BJP government. The SP is standing with the farmers," he said.
SP's national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said that on the direction of the party chief, on the third day of the 'samajwadi kisan ghrea abhiyan', MPs, MLAs and other public representatives took part, and listened to the grievances of farmers.