New Delhi : A delegation of the farmers’ leaders and representatives met the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament complex on Wednesday.
Gandhi assured the farm leaders that the legal guarantee for the MSP was their right and the INDIA bloc would ensure they get this.
He assured them that he, along with other INDIA bloc partners, will raise the issue and press for the implementation of the legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price for their crops.
Gandhi had invited the farm leaders for a meeting in his office in the Parliament. Initially the farmers were denied entry into the Parliament complex. After the matter was highlighted, the farm leaders were allowed inside where they held a detailed meeting with Gandhi.
Besides the Congress general secretary organization KC Venugopal, general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh, party MPs from Punjab and Haryana including former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, Dr Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda and Jai Prakash were also present during the meeting.
The farm leaders who attended the meeting included Jagjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Shantha Kumar, Abhimanyu, Nallanala Venkateshwar Rao, Pandian Ramalingam, Tejveer Singh, Swaran Singh Pandher, Surjit Singh, Ramandeep Singh Mann, Guramneet Singh and Amarjeet Singh.
Later talking to reporters along with Gandhi, the farm leaders expressed satisfaction and confidence over his (Gandhi’s) assurance to them that the matter related to the legal guarantee for the MSP will be raised in the Parliament effectively and forcefully.
Venugopal later wrote on X, “snubbed by the government, beaten with sticks and welcomed with bullets, these farmers have lost all expectations from the government”.
About the meeting, he said, it discussed the urgent need for a legal MSP guarantee, justice for protesting farmers who suffered at the hands of the Haryana government and various other issues concerning the farmers today.
The farmer leaders said that Rahul Gandhi has also expressed solidarity with them against the ‘atrocities’ of the Haryana government.
Notably, farm bodies Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha recently announced to launch a fresh stir to push for a legalisation on MSP guarantee.
As part of the protest, they will take out a ‘long march’ to support the Opposition’s private Bills. They will also take out a tractor rally on August 15.
At a recent press conference, the leaders of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) said that the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march will complete 200 days on August 31, as they appealed to the people to reach Khanauri, Shambhu, etc., on the Punjab and Haryana border on that day.
