NEW DELHI: Faced with agitation by farmers on the road and protest by parties inside Parliament against the farm ordinances, BJP chief J P Nadda on Wednesday accused the Congress of misleading
the nation.
Nadda asserted said that the legislative proposals are in the interests of the farmers. “All the three legislative proposals, including the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, are path-breaking reforms to empower farmers. The Congress, in its 2014 Lok Sabha poll manifesto, had promised to repeal the APMC Act. Now, the Congress has conveniently forgotten its own stand,” Nadda told reporters.
The BJP chief claimed that the Congress had persuaded the party-ruled states to denotify food and vegetables from the APMC Act when the UPA was in power Nadda said that the party is in touch with the leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on the legislative proposals before the Parliament concerning agriculture.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have hit the street to protest the three legislations while the Opposition MPs are opposing the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 on the grounds that it would encourage hoarding and middlemen.
Nadda stressed that the Minimum Support Prices (for Rabi and Kharif crops) would continue in practice.
“The MSP was there, it is there and will remain in practice. The legislative proposals before the Parliament only give additional avenues to the farmers to fetch better prices for their produces. The farmers may avail even better prices than the MSPs offered at the mandis,” said Nadda.