The Congress party’s Rajasthan unit, lead by chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress Rajasthan chief Govind Singh Dotasara and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, will on Sunday hold demonstrations against the recently passed farm laws at Jaipur’s Shaheed Smarak demanding for their repeal.
Thousands of farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 claiming that these laws allow corporate farming and will be beneficial for the multinational companies in the agricultural sector.
Gehlot had on Thursday lashed out at the Centre for forcing farmers to welcome New Year on the streets amid freezing temperatures. “It is sad that our farmer brothers and sisters, who are protesting, would welcome the New Year out on roads and away from homes. A sensitive, responsive govt would never let this happen!” Gehlot had tweeted.
The Rajasthan government will also launch a week-long campaign ‘Kisan Bachao-Desh Bachao’ on Tuesday under which ministers, party workers and public representatives will visit villages in the state demanding the rollback of the three laws.
The farmers and the Centre will sit for the seventh round of discussions on January 4. Leaders of the farm unions have warned to intensify the agitation at Delhi’s borders if the demands are not met.
The farm leaders have said that protests will begin from January 6 for two weeks if the laws are not repealed by the government. “This is our ultimatum. If all issues are not resolved and our demands not met by Republic Day, then we will start entering Delhi. The government is saying that 50% of the demands have been met. But the government has shown no signs of meeting our biggest demands,” farmers’ rights activist and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav said on Saturday.
