Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met with a 12-member delegation of farmer leaders from different states, who apprised him of various issues they have been facing.
After the meeting held at his office in Parliament House Complex, Gandhi emphasized the Congress party’s commitment to providing a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in their manifesto.
He stated that an assessment has shown that the legal guarantee of MSP can be implemented.
Gandhi further said that the Congress will rally support from other leaders within the INDIA alliance to press the government for this crucial measure to benefit farmers across the country.
“In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented,” Rahul Gandhi said while speaking to reporters after his meeting.
“We had a meeting right now where were decided that we will talk to the other leader of the INDIA alliance to put pressure on the government that MSP legal guarantee should be given to the farmers of the country,” Rahul Gandhi said.
KC Venugopal, Raja Brar, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dharamvir Gandhi, Dr Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda, and Jai Prakash were also present in the meeting.
Earlier, the Congress MP alleged that farmer leaders who were invited by him to meet him were not allowed inside the Parliament Complex.
Later, the farmer leaders were allowed to come to Parliament only after LoP Rahul Gandhi decided to go outside to meet them.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that because they are farmers, they were being allowed to enter the Parliament premises.
“We had invited them (farmer leaders) here to meet us. But they are not allowing them here (in Parliament). Because they are farmers, maybe this is the reason they are not allowing them in,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leaders announced on Monday that they would burn effigies of the Union government all over the nation and launch a fresh protest to fulfil their demands for legalising the MSP guarantee.
As part of this protest, they will also stage a “long march” to support the private bills by the opposition. Subsequently, the protesting farmers will take out a tractor rally nationwide on August 15, when the country marks Independence Day.
Addressing a press conference, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leaders said that the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march will complete 200 days on August 31 and appealed to people to reach Khanauri, Shambhu, etc on the Punjab and Haryana border.
A rally will be held in the Jind district of Haryana on September 15 and another rally will be held in Pipli on September 22.
Earlier in February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway after farmer’s unions announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. (ANI)