Congress will scrap farm laws if voted to power, says Priyanka Gandhi at ‘Kisan Panchayat’ in Saharanpur

Priyanka Gandhi, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday said that the three contentious farm laws, against which lakhs of farmers are agitating, will be scrapped if the party was voted to power in the next election.

She was addressing a ‘Kisan Panchayat’ in Saharanpur, one of the epicentres of the growing farmers’ protests, in western UP.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders of “insulting” farmers who are protesting against the laws, Priyanka said: “The three laws are demonic. If voted to power, the Congress will scrap these laws”.

Priyanka also said that her party will continue to fight till the laws are scrapped.

“These three laws were drafted in such a way that government ‘mandis’ will eventually close down, the farmers will not get MSP (minimum support price) and there will be hoarding,” said Priyanka while addressing the panchayat.

“In other words, the farmers’ voice will become weak and the voice of billionaires will grow stronger,” she added.

Organized by the Uttar Pradesh Congress, the ‘Kisan Panchayat’ was the first in a series of such farmers’ meetings planned by the grand old party in western Uttar Pradesh.

Before addressing the ‘Kisan Panchayat’, Priyanka visited the Shakumbhari temple in Saharanpur and offered prayers for farmers. She also visited Raipur Khanqah Dargah, the UP Congress said. She also met the family of soldier Nishant Sharma who was recently martyred on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

Priyanka was presented with a pair of ploughs at the ‘Kisan Panchayat’.

Opposition parties including the Congress have supported farmers camping on the borders of Delhi for more than two months, demanding the repeal of the farm laws enacted last September.

Most of the protesters are from Punjab and Haryana, but there is a sizable number from western Uttar Pradesh with Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait assuming a lead role in the agitation.

Recently, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Choudhary also addressed farmers’ ‘maha panchayats’ in western UP.