The Congress has stepped up pressure on the government to withdraw the farm laws amid the farmers protest and Rahul Gandhi has been in the forefront in attacking the government.
The former Congress president has taken stock of the situation with the Punjab and Haryana Congress in-charges.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the “government is backstabbing farmers, and it is politically dishonest.”
The party which opposed the farm laws in Parliament has now got another opportunity to corner the government.
The Congress has demanded that the government repeal the farm laws which is the bone of contention between the farmers and the government.
Both parties will sit across the table again today.
“The prime minister should talk to the farmers with an open heart, suspend the three farm laws and withdraw cases against the farmers,” the Congress demanded.
The Congress Punjab in-charge, Harish Rawat, has already said the government should defuse tensions as peace in Punjab should not be disturbed.
Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary visited the Tikri border along with his supporters and distributed milk and other milk products to the protesting farmers.
Chaudhary also interacted with the agitating farmers and assured them of all help from his party.
The Congress leader said, “I have come here to support the cause of the farmers. We will stand with the farmers till the time the government repeals the three farm laws.”
He criticised the government for forcing the farmers to protest on the streets for the last seven days.
Meanwhile, the agitating farmers yesterday urged the government to convene a special session of Parliament to repeal the three farm laws, besides threatening to hold a nationwide protest on December 5.
Addressing a press conference at the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu, Darshan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Union, said, “We will celebrate December 3, when the Bhopal gas tragedy took place several decades ago, as anti-corporate day. On December 5, we will protest against the Modi government and the corporate houses and burn their effigies.”
“It will be a nationwide protest where the farmers will burn the effigies.”
He said that artistes and sportspersons have given a call to return the awards they have received from the government. “We thank the people who have announced their intention to return their awards to the government and we are hopeful that those who have got national awards will also return them as a mark of solidarity with the farmers’ movement,” Pal said.
He added that the farmer leaders will give a written 7-10 page recommendation on why they want the farm laws to be repealed.
He informed that during the meeting with the government on Tuesday, it seemed to them that the government was trying to divide and mislead them on the three farm laws.
The press conference was held after the farmers’ groups held talks earlier in the day.
Farmers offer bananas and jaggery to security personnel at a road block stopping farmers from marching to New Delhi to protest against the central government’s recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghazipur.
