New Delhi, December 25
Launching a scathing attack against the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused it of “lying, misleading, shedding crocodile tears, destroying economies, doing event management and not allowing dialogue to take place between the government and farmers for the sake of narrow political gains”.
Modi said farmers across the country are aware of their reality, “what they did for them while they were in power”. “Those faking concerns over farmers’ lands, where were they when their lands were being grabbed,” he said while addressing farmers on the day he directly transferred Rs 18,000 crore to nine crore farmers across the country under the PM-Kisan scheme.
“The three laws have given farmers good alternatives with proper legal safeguards, including on agreement,” he said, telling his opponents that “for the sake of farmers” his government was “ready to talk to them but on real issues and facts”.
“Those rejected by people are doing event management for the sake of narrow political gains. Those rejected by people are misleading the farmers and not allowing the dialogue to take place between the Centre and farmers. They are now trying to add other issues to the original demand of MSP. The agitation that started in the name of MSP has been extended to demands for release of jailed criminals, toll taxes,” he said.
Assuring farmers that his government stood with them, the PM said, “You can sell your produce wherever you want, where you get the right price… If you want to sell at MSP in ‘mandi’, you can do that….If you want to export it you can….if you want to sell it to a trader, you can…if you want to form FPOs, a value chain, you can also do that.”
“There are many ‘sachche kisan’(true farmers) in the agitation, not just politicians are leading the agitation,” he said.
He told the farmers that they would be at “no risk” and “also be entitled to bonus, according to the new laws, if the crop turns out better than expected/anticipated”. “The entire risk will be of the company and the farmers will only benefit. What is wrong with that? Still, lies are being spread among farmers on MSP and ‘mandis’. Have you heard of a single mandi closing down anywhere in the country?
Modi said the entire county was benefiting from PM-Kisan except the 70 lakh farmers of West Bengal, accusing Mamata Banerjee’s TMC government of “blocking the aid”.
“Several farmers have complained to the Centre,” he said, questioning the opposition parties, especially the Congress, “why they were not raising the issue of West Bengal farmers and lack of APMC in Kerala”.
“You have not raised the issue pertaining to 70 lakh farmers of West Bengal but chose to go to Punjab…you are trying to create trouble for people of Delhi, destroying economies,” he said.
“The same people who are spreading lies are not saying anything about Kerala where there is no APMC Act….You have time to mislead farmers of Punjab but no time for Kerala. What kind of politics is this which has no logic, no facts? They have all the right to do politics but they should not play with the lives of innocent farmers and mislead them.”
The Prime Minister said the new laws would benefit all, including more than 80 percent poor and marginal farmers that account for more than 10 crore in numbers. “They were left to fend for themselves all this while. This number is not small….the poor farmers kept becoming poorer All those running the agitation were supporting the previous governments which did nothing for these farmers,” he said
Paying tribute to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he recounted various schemes undertaken during his government. “He was the sutradhar of the farm reforms in a way,” he said.
The Prime Minister interacted with farmers, including from Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana (Hari Singh Bishnoi, Fatehabad, who has diversified to lemon and guava), Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, who recounted the benefits of the various central schemes, including PM-Kisan, insurance and benefits of forming FPOs.
Manoj, a farmer from Dhar, MP, spoke about benefits of the three laws against which unions from Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP and Rajasthan are agitating. To the farmer from Arunachal, Modi light-heartedly asked whether the company which buys ginger from him has also taken away his land. “Some people are trying to spread lies among farmers that who do contracts with companies will also lose their land,” he said.
“Do private companies short-change you in the name of quality,” he asked Manoj, a farmer from MP. “We need to take care of animals destroying crops but the same people who are agitating in the name of farm laws will also open a front on that issue,” he said when Manoj apprised him of animals destroying his crops.
“Lies are being spread about contract farming,” he told the farmer from UP.
Allaying their fears, including on MSP and ‘mandis’, Home Minister Amit Shah said “till the time Narendra Modi is the PM no corporate can take away your land”.
Union ministers, MPs, Chief Ministers and ministers of BJP-ruled states, party MLAs, office-bearers at national and state level, mayors and councillors participated in the programmes that the BJP leaders called ‘utsav’ and that were rejected by agitating farmers as “publicity stunt”.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani were among the leaders who separately interacted with farmers at various places across the country and together with the gathering listened to the prime minister’s address.
In his rally, Singh appealed to farmers to try the three new farm laws as an “experiment” for a year or two and in case they are found not beneficial for the farming community, the government will do all necessary amendments.
Separately, Shah said no corporate can snatch away any farmer’s land as long as Modi is Prime Minister and asserted that the provision of MSP will continue and mandis will not be shut down.
In Amethi, Irani launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of “lying and misleading” farmers over the Centre’s recent farm laws.
“He is shedding crocodile tears for farmers and misleading them. His own jija (brother-in-law) has encroached upon the land of farmers,” she alleged, in an apparent reference to charges levelled against Robert Vadra by political rivals.
Modi released the installment of Rs 2,000 to every farmer on the birth anniversary of the former prime minister and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which is every year celebrated as “Good Governance Day” by the ruling party.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to small and marginal farmers, payable in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
