India News | Modi Backed MSP Guarantee as CM but Changed Position After Becoming PM: Cong
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of "defaming" protesting farmers in Punjab and questioning their loyalty to India, and asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would apologise for it.
New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of "defaming" protesting farmers in Punjab and questioning their loyalty to India, and asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would apologise for it.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Punjab.
"Why is Punjab's agricultural power supply under threat? Why has the Prime Hypocrite changed his original position in support of MSP? Why is the outgoing PM defaming farmers and constantly questioning their loyalty?" he said in a post on X.
Ramesh said the Modi government introduced the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2022, with the "nefarious aim" of privatising the entire electricity system in India.
The provisions of the Bill set it up such that public utilities will be left with a "service obligation", while private utilities will be able to capture all profits from richer areas, he said.
"The first areas to lose service will be the agricultural feeders of Punjab. The Bill also violates the federal structure of India, which is to be expected from the BJP's style of 'confrontational federalism'. This model of 'retail electricity competition' has failed across the world, yet the BJP wants to bring it in to India. Why is the PM trying to steal power from India's farmers?" Ramesh said.
He further said that in April 2014, when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, he backed a C2+50% (Swaminathan formula) MSP guarantee to farmers.
"Yet once he sat on the PM's chair, he changed his position and has opposed MSP for 10 years now, and has even attempted to undermine the MSP regime through his three black farm laws. Will the Prime Hypocrite revert to this position after June 4, when he demits office as PM?" Ramesh said.
"When the Kisaan-Virodhi BJP brought the three black farm laws under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, the farmers of Punjab and elsewhere had no option but to protest. They braved the bitter cold, the pandemic, and the violence of the Delhi Police, to make their voice heard by the arrogant Prime Minister," he said.
Through all this, the BJP's propaganda machine was at its peak, defaming the protesting farmers as 'naxals', 'khalistanis' and 'anti-nationals', Ramesh alleged.
"These are families who work hard to supply food to the nation, who send their sons and daughters off to secure our borders. Will the PM ever apologise for defaming Punjab's farmers and constantly questioning their loyalty to India?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.
In another post on X, Ramesh said that under "outgoing PM Modi", India has seen 10 years of "back-breaking inflation" and prices of dal are 17 per cent higher than last year.
Citing a media report, he said even the benefit of these prices is not going to farmers, as imports are at a seven-year record.
"The Congress Party has clear solutions to these issues. First, our Nyay Patra promises to include dal and oil in ration shops (the Public Distribution System). Families will be protected from price rise in dal. Second, with a legal guarantee of MSP, farmers will grow more dal, reducing inflation and reducing the need for imports, while gaining the benefits themselves," Ramesh said.
Earlier in the day, he said the people of Himachal Pradesh have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the Agnipath scheme and asked if Prime Minister Modi will commit to scrapping the "ill-conceived" military recruitment programme.
Ramesh had posed several questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Himachal Pradesh.
"How much did the attempt to topple the state government cost the BJP? Will the outgoing prime minister commit to scrapping the Agnipath scheme? Why has the Modi sarkar not delivered on railway projects? Why did the outgoing prime minister not declare the July 2023 floods a national calamity?" the Congress general secretary asked.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)