Congress-BJP lock horns over Union farm laws in MP

Madhya Pradesh,National,Politics

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Bhopal, Dec 16 (IANS) While the farmers are protesting against the three Union agricultural laws enacted by the Central government, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress have come face-to-face over these laws in Madhya Pradesh. On the one hand the BJP is saying these laws are in the interest of the farmers while the Congress has termed them 'anti-farmer'.

Farmers have been occupying the borders around the national capital for the past 20 days protesting against the farm laws and are adamant on the repeal of these laws as well as an amendment to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops. Several rounds of talks have taken place between the representatives of the Central government and the farmers' organisations but no breakthrough has been achieved.

The ruling BJP at the Centre and the state government have launched a campaign describing the farm laws as "farmer-friendly". Several farmer conferences are being organized at various places by the saffron party and the benefits of these laws are being explained. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP state President Vishnu Dutt Sharma and Union Ministers are leading from the front in this campaign.

Both Chouhan and Sharma have described these farm laws as bringing a change in the lives of the farmers. They say that when the manufacturers have the right to fix the price of their products, then why should the farmers not have the right to fix the price of their produce and these farm laws have been brought to provide the same rights to the farmers. But those associated with the Congress and other parties have started spreading canards among the farmers. All these opposition parties in reality are "anti-farmer", the saffron party said.

The Congress has also announced taking to the streets in support of the agitating farmers. Jitu Patwari, Congress media department chief and acting party state President, says the stand taken by the BJP leaders regarding the farmers' agitation is to benefit the top businessmen. The BJP leaders are calling the farmers 'slaves', 'Tukde-Tukde gang'. The statements made by the BJP are "shameful".

Former Congress minister P.C. Sharma said the party would launch a statewide fast and dharna (protest) in support of the farmers in the coming days. All these three farm laws are "anti-farmer" and should be rolled back.

Regarding the political slugfest between the BJP and the Congress over the farmers in the state, political analysts believe that there is a large chunk of farmers in Madhya Pradesh. That is why both the parties are taking to the streets talking about the interests of the farmers. The reason behind this is that the farmers' agitation in the state has not picked up pace.

The BJP considers it an achievement of the state government and this is why farmers' conferences are being held in support of the farm laws. At the same time, the Congress feels that the farmers issue must be raised so now they are also ready to hit the roads launching a protest march supporting the farmers.

--IANS

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