Nationwide protests by Congress in support of farmers; Rahul says won’t relent till laws are repealed

Even as the ninth round of talks between the farmers’ unions and the Modi government was underway in Delhi on Friday, thousands of Congress activists hit the streets all over India demanding repeal of the farm laws enacted by the Centre.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi and several other Congress leaders, led a protest march in Delhi in support of the farmers’ agitation, which completed 80 days today.

They were, however, stopped by the police from marching towards Raj Bhawan in Delhi.

Congress had given a call for a march to governors’ houses all over India today in protest against the farm laws enacted by the Centre.

Addressing Congress activists from a makeshift dais, Rahul said that the Congress party will not relent until the contentious laws are repealed.

Saying that the Congress party had defended the farmers when the Modi government brought in the land acquisition law, Rahul said, “The three (farm) laws have been brought to finish the farmers. If we do not stop this now, it will continue to happen in other sectors too. Narendra Modi does not respect the farmers. The farmers are not afraid and will not get deterred,” he said.

“BJP govt will have to withdraw the farm laws; Congress will not relent till these laws are repealed,” he asserted.

Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi later met the Congress MPs who have been staging a sit in at Jantar Mantar in support of the farmers’ protests.

Many Congress MPs including Ravneet Singh Bittu, Jasbir Singh Dimpa and others have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since December 7. Senior Congress leaders, including Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid, too had joined their protest in solidarity with them.

The protests by Congress, which has backed the farmers all this while, was part of its "Speak Up For Kisan Adhikar" campaign. The party observed ‘Kisan Adhikar Divas’ (Farmers’ Rights Day) on Friday and all state units were asked to congregate at all Raj Bhavans in states across the country.

In Lucknow, head of Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress, Ajay Kumar Lallu was detained along with several other Congress leaders while they were on the way to gherao governor Anandi Ben’s residence.

Talking to the media before being taken away by the UP Police, Lallu said that the Yogi Adityanath government was infringing on their democratic right to hold a peaceful protest.

“We are soldiers of Rahul Gandhi…We will not get deterred…The Congress will continue its fight against this kind of oppression,” he said.

“No dictator can suppress farmers,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath took part in a tractor rally in Chhindwara in support of farmers.

Demanding repeal of the laws, another senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader, Digvijay Singh, said that the Modi government was ‘drunk on power’.

A post by the official Twitter handle of Punjab unit of the Congress said the country will win only when demands of the farmers are met, and appealed to people to protest against the farm laws.