On Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, describing it as a ‘curse’ for the country’s farmers.
Kharge also accused the administration of treating farmers as enemies. Kharge claimed that only the Congress party can guarantee farmers the legal entitlement to a Minimum Support Price (MSP).
“The Modi government is a curse for the country’s food-providing farmers. Due to the continuous false ‘Modi’s Guarantee’, the first 750 farmers lost their lives and now, yesterday, 1 farmer has been martyred and 3 have lost their eyesight due to rubber bullets. The Modi government has treated farmers like enemies, Only Congress will give them the legal right of MSP!” Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on ‘X’.
The security forces stationed at the Shambhu Border continued to prevent agitating farmers seeking to reach the national capital on Saturday, as the protests entered their fifth day.
Hundreds of farmers and journalists have been hurt as protestors clashed with police repeatedly in an attempt to break through the multi-layered barriers.
The protesting farmers have been camped at border crossings since the March began on Tuesday, February 13.
A third round of discussions with the central government ended in an impasse on Thursday, amid a standoff between protesters and security officers on the Punjab-Haryana border. There will be another round of discussions on Sunday.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have called for a ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to pressure the BJP-led Centre to adopt their demands.
The farmers have presented 12 demands to the central government, for which they are marching to Delhi. This time, the demonstration has been called by the non-political Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, which is led by farmer union leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher.
According to the protesting farmers, the Centre guaranteed them higher crop prices, therefore they halted their 2021 protest. They want a law that guarantees a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, as outlined in the Swaminathan Commission report.
They also want a comprehensive debt waiver and a system to pay pensions to farmers and farm workers.