Rahul Gandhi to participate in Cong' Kisan Yatra in protest of NDA's Farm laws

Taking the protest against the farm reform laws a notch higher, Congress has planned to launch a Kissan Yatra from Punjab. The protest is also likely to see the participation of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi. The Kisan Yatra is said to begin from Sangrur and will culminate in Delhi via various districts of Punjab and Haryana.

Although Rahul Gandhi has been given details of the march, the time of his presence in the Yatra is yet to be finalised. ANI has reported that Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting in Sangrur after which the Yatra will proceed to Patiala. According to Haryana Congress President Kumari Selja, Rahul Gandhi will visit Punjab and Haryana in the next two-three days.

The aim of the Kisan Yatra is to make the people understand the Congress stand on the laws and also portray Modi government as "anti-farmers", ANI said citing sources.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has also advised Congress-ruled states (Punjab, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan) to explore ways to refuse the implementation of the new agriculture laws.

The Parliament has recently passed the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 which got President Ram Nath Kovind's assent and came into effect from September 27.

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Opposition vs Centre on Farm laws

While the opposition, especially Congress is hell-bent on portraying the farm laws as anti farmers by contending that the new laws will remove the concept of minimum support price (MSP) and will also abolish the APMC Mandis system, the Centre has repeatedly assured that the MS mechanism will continue to exist in the new reform laws as well, however, the new laws will give the farmers freedom to sell their produce outside of the Mandis as against the earlier compulsion to sell only through Mandis, which led to corruption and less revenue to farmers. Moreover, farmers will also have the option to sell through Mandis if they wish too, the Centre has assured.

With the new laws, the farmers will have the option to sell directly to private sector entities without being dependent on the middlemen and APMC regulators where the root of corruption lies, while the Congress said that the entry of private entities into farm sector will lead to the farmers being at the mercy of the corporates.

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