First time such an arrogant govt in power that cannot see sufferings of farmers: Sonia Gandhi

अब भी समय है कि मोदी सरकार सत्ता का अंहकार छोड़कर तत्काल बिना शर्त तीनों काले कानून वापस ले और ठंड में दम तोड़ रहे किसानों का आंदोलन समाप्त कराए। यही राजधर्म है और दिवंगत किसानों के प्रति श्रद्धांजलि भी।

कांग्रेस अध्यक्षा, श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी का वक्तव्य। pic.twitter.com/foCFMbuqXm

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 3, 2021

“Along with the people of the country, I am also disturbed seeing the condition of the ‘annadatas’ who have been agitating for 39 days at the borders of Delhi in the bitter cold and rain in support of their demands,” Gandhi further said.

More than 50 farmers have lost their lives due to the “government’s apathy”, she said, with some even taking the step of committing suicide.

“But neither the heartless Modi government relented nor the Prime Minister or any other minister uttered a word of consolation till today. I pay my respects to all the deceased farmer brothers and pray to the Lord to give their families the strength to bear this sorrow,” the Congress chief said.

“Since independence, this is the first such arrogant government that has come to power in the history of the country that, leave alone people, cannot even see the sufferings and struggles of ‘annadatas’,” Gandhi said.

The Congress president alleged that ensuring profits for a handful of industrialists had become the main agenda of this government. The Congress has been seeking the repeal of the three new farm laws, alleging that they will ruin farming and the farmers.

The government and farmer unions are scheduled to meet again on January 4 to decide on demands to repeal the three newly enacted farm laws and provision of legal guarantee on the minimum support price for procurement.

At their last meeting on December 30, the Centre agreed to “decriminalise” stubble burning by excluding farmers from the ambit of the ‘Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020’, and drop those provisions of the draft Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020, which intend to change the existing mode of subsidy payment to consumers.