A day after the presentation of the Union Budget, various farmers’ organisations have decided to step up their protests against the Narendra Modi government. While the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday decided to burn the copies of the Budget to mark their protests, a splinter group of the SKM met Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and asked him to press their demand for statutory Minimum Support Price (MSP). Mr. Gandhi told the farmers’ delegation that he will raise their demands in Parliament.
The delegation comprising Jagjeet Singh Dallewal, Sarvan Singh Pandher, Abhimanyu, Nallamala Venkateswar Rao, Tejvir Singh and others met Mr. Gandhi and other senior MPs of the Congress. “Our manifesto promised a legal guarantee for MSP. We have done a full assessment and it is feasible. We had a meeting and it was decided that we will have a discussion with INDIA bloc leaders and will try and put pressure on the government to ensure that the farmers get a legal guarantee for MSP,” Mr. Gandhi told reporters after the meeting. He added later that legal guarantee for MSP is the right of farmers. “INDIA will ensure that they get this right,” he said on social media. Mr. Dallewal said the INDIA bloc has assured all support for their protests and for their demands.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dharamvir Gandhi, Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda and Jai Prakash were also present in the meeting.
“For the crores of farmers of India, LOP Rahul Gandhiji is the ray of hope. Snubbed by the government, beaten with sticks and welcomed with bullets, these farmers have lost all expectations from the government,” Mr. Venugopal said after the meeting.
“In our meeting with farm union leaders, we discussed the urgent need for a legal MSP guarantee, justice for protesting farmers who suffered at the hands of the Haryana government, and various other issues concerning the farmers today,” he said on X.
Randeep Sangatpura, a young farmer from Punjab, said the Budget was depressing for farmers. He said there was no mention of compulsory purchase and MSP for diversified crops in the Budget. “Last year was the International Millets Year and I cultivated pearl millet. But I suffered economic losses. The government should provide MSP with purchase guarantee for such alternative crops,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SKM decided to hold nationwide protests against the Budget. Leaders of the SKM told reporters in a press conference that the Budget is for corporatisation of agriculture and called for burning of the copies of the Budget in all villages across the country.
They said there was no tax increase on corporate companies and wealth tax or inheritance tax were not introduced clearly revealing the “class bias” of the government. “This is not acceptable to the farmers of the country,” they said adding that the Budget neglected the long-pending demands of the farmers for MSP as per the Swaminathan formula with guaranteed procurement.
“The announcements of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture to register land and crops and the National Cooperation Policy are aimed at encroaching the rights of the State governments since agriculture, land and cooperation are the State subjects as per the Constitution of India,” they said.
