Haryana CM Khattar overlooking farmers’ plight for months, says Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has expressed surprise at incumbent Chief Minister Khattar's statement that farmers from Haryana were not involved in the farmers’ agitation against the new farm laws introduced by the Union government. Hooda said the farmers of Haryana have been agitating against the three agricultural laws for the last many months and he himself has repeatedly urged the government to withdraw these laws or bring in a new law to guarantee Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers.

He questioned Khattar, “The Chief Minister should tell whether he does not consider the agitating farmers as residents of Haryana? If the farmers of Haryana are not part of the movement, then who did the government lathi-charge in Pipli? Who are the people who were detained by Haryana Police before their Delhi march? Who are the thousands of farmers against whom the Haryana government has filed cases?"

The Leader of Opposition in Haryana said that Khattar’s ignorance towards such a big movement is shocking and disturbing. “The government should know that the farmers of Haryana and Punjab have stood shoulder to shoulder in this movement. They are also getting support from farmers of UP, Rajasthan and other states. Ignoring them is an insult to those who work hard who put food on our tables. As a responsible Opposition, we fully support the demands of the farmers,” Hooda said.

Hooda said the entire nation stands with the farmers and will fight till the government concedes to the genuine and lawful demands of the farmers. “Until the farmers win this battle, we stand firmly with the demands of the farmers. The attitude adopted by the government to crush the movement is completely undemocratic as every citizen and every class has the right to demonstrate peacefully for their just demands in democracy,” he said. “Till now the entire agitation of the farmers has been peaceful. But Haryana government's role in the entire movement has been negative. The government's job is to keep the roads and highways open, not to close them down. The government's job is to make roads but the government also blocked roads and dug roads to stop the farmers,” he added.

Hooda appealed to all residents of Haryana to provide all support and arrangements for farmers arriving from different areas of Punjab and Haryana on the Delhi border. “The farmers should not have any problem with their food and accommodation,” he said and suggested that the government should immediately talk to the farmers without waiting for December 3 and find a solution to the problems at the earliest. “The government should not wait any more as the agitation can escalate the farmers’ movement,” he said.