No ordinance can be in interest of farmers unless it guarantees MSP of crops: Hooda

Former CM to visit Pipli today to express support to farmers, demands discussion on ordinances in Parliament

FORMER HARYANA chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has expressed outrage over the police’s use of force on farmers who were going to the Kisan rally at Pipli in Kurukshetra on Thursday. Meanwhile, state Congress president Kumari Selja announced protests by Congress members at the district headquarters on September 21 against the three central ordinances on agriculture.

Hooda on Thursday said, “In democracy, everyone has the right to raise their voice and go anywhere. I will myself visit Pipli on Friday and will meet farmers, labourers and traders. The farmers are agitating for their legitimate demands. By bringing three anti-farmer ordinances during the coronavirus pandemic, the government has forced the farmer to come out on the streets and protest. No ordinance can be in the interest of the farmers unless it guarantees Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops and there is a discussion in Parliament. If the government wants to make any changes in the system, it will have to guarantee the protection of the mandi and the MSP system. BJP will have to give MSP on the input cost of crops and Swaminathan’s C2 formula as promised.”

The Leader of Opposition said that “the government wants to suppress the voice of the farmer by citing the pandemic but it is imposing these ordinances on farmers during this period. If the government is really worried about the farmer and coronavirus, why is it showing such haste regarding the three ordinances?”

“What happened in Kurukshetra is not only undemocratic but also inhuman. The farmer feeds 135 crore Indians and no one has the right to use force against them,” he further said.

Hooda said hundreds of Congress workers along with former minister Ashok Arora who took part in the agitation in Kurukshetra, also courted arrests along with the farmers.

The former CM extended “complete support” to the farmers. “The Congress stands shoulder to shoulder with the farmer in every agitation and struggle. The three anti-farmer ordinances will not be allowed to be implemented unless MSP is guaranteed. The government has to bring a fourth ordinance, which would ensure that legal action can be taken against any agency buying farm produce below MSP. If the government does not do so, opposition to these ordinances will continue from the streets to the Assembly, and to the Parliament,” Hooda said.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said the state government tried to throttle the voice of farmers as the Haryana Police resorted to lathicharge in a number of places in various parts of the state. “The anti-farmer, anti-traders, anti–workers face of the Khattar government stands fully exposed with its blatant attempts to illegally detain the farmer leaders and stop farmers from reaching the rally site at Pipli,” he added.

INLD Secretary General and MLA Abhay Chautala said, “The government’s prohibition of peasants, farmers and labourers from demonstrating is a violation of their constitutional rights. The government is already bent on ruining the farmers financially and is now lathichargeing and torturing them physically. This dictatorial attitude of the BJP government of the state is extremely shameful and condemnable. If the government does not take back the anti-farmer ordinance, then INLD will go on the streets with thousands of farmers.”

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