India News | Passage of Two Farm Bills Evokes Mixed Political Reactions in UP

Lucknow, Sep 20 (PTI) The passage of two contentious farm bills in Rajya Sabha on Sunday amidst uproar by opposition members, evoked mixed reactions in Uttar Pradesh.

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed the passage of the bills as "new sunrise" for the agriculture sector, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of indulging in 'loktaantrik kapat' (democratic cheating), and said the saffron party has passed its own 'patan-patra' (document of decline).

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In a series of Hindi tweets, Adityanath said, "The passage of Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 is a new sunrise for the agriculture sector. Today is an unforgettable day for our 'annadata' (food provider) farmers. Congratulations."

He also said the bills would herald a new era in the agriculture sector and help farmers get free from complicated mechanism.

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"Minimum support price will continue as it is," he said in the tweet, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the passage of the two bills.

"The farmers can now sow seeds of new hope in their farms. This hope will come true, when they will get a satisfactory price of their produce. The bills passed in the Parliament pave the path of freedom to 'annadata' farmers to sell their produce, and to easily avail technology and freedom from complicated mechanism," said Adityanath in another tweet.

SP chief Yadav, however, hit out at the BJP in a Hindi tweet, saying, "The BJP in the garb of passing the farm bills through voice vote in the Rajya Sabha has throttled the voice of farmers and the opposition, and for a few selected capitalists, it has cheated the two-third population of India."

"By indulging in 'loktaantrik kapat' (democratic cheating), the BJP has passed its own 'patan-patra' (document of decline), and not the farm bill," he said.

Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two farm bills, which have triggered protests by farmers at several places, amid uproar by opposition members.

The two bills were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The Upper House passed the two bills, rejecting demands of several opposition parties to send the two bills to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee for greater scrutiny.

These bills will now be sent to the President of India for his assent.

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The second bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, provides for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services.

Rashtriya Kisan Manch president Shekhar Dixit, meanwhile, questioned the opposition to the farm bills in a tweet.

"Is the noise over farm bills because of the fact that the shops of the intermediaries and farmer broker leaders are on the verge of closure. The opposition leaders must read the provisions of the bill properly, and it is possible that farmers' interest is there in the bill," he said.

(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)