Farmers' protest: Congress welcomes VP Dhankhar's remarks at Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh expressed support for Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhars critical remarks directed at Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan regarding the ongoing farmers protest reported news agency ANIJairam Ramesh said that the Congress party has consistently raised similar concerns over the past four to five yearsWe respect VicePresident He is the guardian of Rajya Sabha and protector of Constitution The question he asked the Agricultural Minister Congress has been asking the same question to the PM for the last 45 years he told ANIWe want a discussion on the same thing and we have given notice as well We are happy that the Vice President has asked this question Jairam Ramesh addedOn Tuesday Vice President Dhankhar questioned Chouhan about the ldquopromisesrdquo made to farmers by previous ministersAgriculture Minister did the previous Agriculture Ministers make any written promises If so what happened to them the VicePresident saidHe underscored the growing distress among farmers despite Indiarsquos rising global stature and called for urgent dialogues to address their grievancesOur reputation in the world has never been as high When this is happening why is my farmer in distress Why is he suffering Why is the farmer stressed This is a serious issue and to take it lightly means that we are not being practical and our policymaking is not on the right track No force in the country can suppress the voice of the farmer A nation will pay a huge price if it tries the patience of a farmer he addedHe further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a message to the world that solutions can only come through dialogue stated ANICan we create a boundary between the farmer and the government I do not understand why there is no dialogue with the farmersMy concern is why this initiative has not happened so far You Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development I am reminded of Sardar Patel and his responsibility to unify the nation which he did so excellently This challenge is before you today and it should not be considered any less than the unity of India Agriculture Minister did the Agriculture Minister who was there before you make any promise in writing If a promise was made then what happened to it he addedThe VicePresident was speaking at the Centenary Foundation Day of the Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Institute for Research on Cotton Technology ICARCIRCOT MumbaiFarmer leader Naresh Tikait welcomed Dhankhars statements calling them good and expressed the need for the government to engage in conversations regarding farmers remunerationsProtest is going on since many days now govt should sit and talk about the remunerations they had given 7day time day before yesterday but yesterday they took action the policies of farmers dont lookyesterday VicePresident Dhankhars statement has also come his statement is goodhe is the VicePresident he should also be taken into a committee Rajnath Singh must be included as well and take the affected farmers also into the committeewe want the matter to be resolved Tikait saidThe protests organised by the Bhartiya Kisan Parishad and other farmer groups are primarily focused on demanding compensation and benefits related to agricultural reforms including a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price MSPWith inputs from ANI