Published 16:25 IST, October 5th 2020
Punjab CM asks Rahul Gandhi to scrap 'black' Farm laws once he becomes Prime Minister
Continuing to protest over the Centre's Farm Bills, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh asked Rahul Gandhi to scrap the three laws 'when he becomes PM' at a rally
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Continuing to protest over the Centre's Farm Bills, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday, accepted that while the law had been passed in Parliament, amendments could be made, while addressing a farmers' rally in Punjab's Bhawanigarh. Predicting a Congress majority in the next Lok Sabha polls, he asked Rahul Gandhi to scrap the three laws 'when he becomes PM'. Rahul Gandhi is currently on his 'Kheti Bachao' rally across Punjab and is scheduled to visit Haryana to hold farmer rallies.
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Punjab CM to Rahul: 'Scrap laws when you're PM'
In the same rally, Gandhi admitted that there are loopholes in the Mandi, procurement and PDS system. But lashing out at PM Modi, he said that the Centre was not improving the system to benefit big corporates. Previously on Sunday, he had iterated that 'if Congress voted to power (at Centre) it will scrap the Farm laws' in a Ludhiana rally. Gandhi along with Singh, Congress' state in-charge Harish Rawat, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and other party leaders held a tractor rally too to protest the new farm bills.
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Centre: 'Congress rejected Swaminathan Commission'
On Saturday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the Swaminathan Commission had proposed three times the average production cost to the farmers but every time the congress had rejected the proposal. The Centre also increased the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 50 per quintal to Rs 1,975 per quintal, to allay farmers' fears. PM Modi has lashed out at Opposition for misleading farmers, assuring that mandis and minimum sale price will remain.
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Farmers' protest
Protests continue to surge across the nation against the Farm Acts - with Akali Dal flagging protests in Punjab and Congress planning massive protests across the nation. In Punjab and Haryana, 31 farmer organisations under aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) staged a Bharat Bandh, taking to the streets to block highways on September 25. Extending the 'Rail roko', they squatted on tracks at many places in Punjab, with CM Amarinder Singh too taking to the streets to protest. Similar protests are currently underway in Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu with farmers demanding rollback of the bills.
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SAD chief Sukhbir Badal & ex-Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal along with other Akali Dal leaders were detained by Chandigarh administration on Thursday, when staged a two massive ‘Kisan March’. While the SAD chief led a protest from Amritsar's Golden Temple towards Governor’s House in Chandigarh, Harsimrat Badal led a rally from Bathinda's Takht Damdama Sahib towards Chandigarh. While several states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh have pledged to 'not implement these laws'. President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to all three Farm Bills passed by the Parliament.
16:25 IST, October 5th 2020