BJP's 'anti-farmer' attitude to the fore again in Kurukshetra: Congress slams lathicharge on tillers

The Congress on Wednesday said the BJPs antifarmer attitude has come to the fore again in Kurukshetra with the police lathicharge on farmers protesting against sunflower seeds allegedly not being bought at minimum support price as it reiterated its demand of legal guarantee for MSP to the tillersIn a swipe at the government the Opposition party said the Jai Jawan Jai Kisan slogan given by former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri has been overturned by the current dispenation into Mare kisan pite kisan jai dhanwan Farmers die farmers beaten up hail the richThree farmer leaders were detained and several of their supporters rounded up after farmers blocked a highway near Shahabad Kurukshetra in Haryana for over six hours on Tuesday demanding that the government procure sunflower seeds at the minimum support price MSPThe blockade also affected vehicular movement on the DelhiChandigarh and DelhiLudhianaAmritsar routes Police used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protestersCongress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh said the BJPs antifarmer attitude is coming to the fore again and againSometimes farmers are attacked by bringing Land Acquisition Ordinance and black agricultural laws and sometimes they are assaulted directly as happened in Kurukshetra he said on TwitterWe strongly condemn the lathicharge on the farmers who were protesting peacefully The government should fulfil their demand for MSP and not try to brutally suppress their voice Ramesh saidAt a press conference at the AICC headquarters here Congress MP Deepender Hooda slammed the BJP over the Kurukshetra incident saying what happened Tuesday was a symbol of this governments betrayal of farmersThey were protesting democratically but lath tantra was deployed which has shamed the nation he saidThe Congress demands that the farmers plea that sunflower seeds be bought at MSP be accepted and those arrested be given financial compensation Hooda saidThe Centre should ensure that the committee formed following the repeal of the agricultural laws acts and legal guarantee of MSP is provided to farmers he saidHe claimed that the Congress was the only party that had promised legal guarantee for MSP and said it would be included in its manifesto for the 2024 general electionsHe urged the farmers to be patient saying the Congress has no expectation that the government would act but asserted that a change will come in 2024 and the Congress in power will implement legal guarantee for MSPWe want to warn government it will have to answer for every lathi it has rained on farmers he saysThe terms of reference of committee that has been formed following the repeal of farm laws does not talk about the legal guarantee of MSP Hooda saidMare kisan pite kisan jai dhanwan is the slogan of this government he allegedThis is an antifarmer government and we will fight this from the streets to Parliament Hood a assertedThe farmers blocked the DelhiChandigarh national highway in front of the Shaheed Udham Singh memorial about 25 km from Kurukshetra following a call given by Bharatiya Kisan Union Charuni chief Gurnam Singh Charuni who was among the three farmer leaders detained by policeThe protesting farmers claimed the government was not buying sunflower seeds at the MSP They said they had given the government time till Monday to accept their demand but it did not pay heedThe protesters claimed they were forced to sell their produce to private buyers at around Rs 4000 per quintal as against the MSP of Rs 6400 per quintalThey also said they are against the government move to include sunflower seeds under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana Under this scheme the government will pay a fixed compensation of Rs 1000 per quintal for produce sold below the MSP they saidKurukshetra Superintendent of Police SP S S Bhoria told PTI that the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday directed that the highway be kept open for free flow and movement of traffic without any hindranceHowever at the same time the court order made it clear that the administration shall exercise utmost restraint and use force to disperse the mob gathered at the spot only as a last resortA copy of the court order was handed over to Charuni but the protesters did not budge the SP saidLater a warning was issued to the protesters to vacate the highway but they refused The police used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever