Parties backing Bharat Bandh just to oppose Modi govt: Devendra Fadnavis

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday targeted the Congress, NCP and other parties which have backed Tuesdays Bharat Bandh call given by farmers bodies over the Centre's new farm laws, saying they are backing the agitation only for the sake of opposing the Modi government.

Speaking to reporters here, Fadnavis claimed these parties had earlier backed provisions similar to ones in the Centres farm laws and charged them with being two-faced by opposing the Acts now.

The former Maharashtra chief minister accused the non- BJP parties of supporting the bandh to cause "anarchy" and said that farmers, however, are well-aware of the same and will support the farm laws.

The Congress, NCP, Shiromani Akali Dal, AAP, DMK, TMC and the Samajwadi Party are among the political outfits which have supported the call for the nationwide shutdown on December 8.

The position of the parties supporting the bandh is two-faced, the Leader of Opposition in the assembly alleged. Fadnavis said Maharashtra was the first state to enact laws similar to the Centres Acts, against which the protest is going on.

In 2006-07, Maharashtra framed land leasing Act when the UPA was in power at the Centre and the Congress-NCP alliance was ruling the state, he noted.

The model APMC Act, which talks about creation of private APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee), was enacted by Maharashtra during the Congress-NCPs rule, Fadnavis added.

No existing APMC was shut due to the model Act, the BJP leader said. The Congresss 2019 manifesto said the party would annul the APMC Act if came to power. On December 27, 2013, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said during a press conference that in the Congress-ruled states, vegetables and fruits will be deleted from the APMC Act.

"Now, the Centre has done the same thing. But the Congress is opposing it now", former Chief Minister said.

Latching onto two letters the then Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar wrote to chief ministers in August 2010 and November 2011, Fadnavis said the NCP president at that time talked about how important private investment is to ensure improvements in commodity markets.

In Pawar sahebs autobiography, he said that the monopoly of APMC needs to be broken so that farmers can sell their produce anywhere.

I want to make it clear that Pawar saheb has nowhere opposed the principle of the (Centre's) laws, Fadnavis added. He alleged that the parties supporting the Bharat Bandh are just seeking political advantage from the shutdown.

These parties are now taking positions different from their original ones on the issue, Fadnavis claimed. The BJP leader said there are eight states where one or two of the three central laws or all the three Acts passed by Parliament are already in force.

He did not name these states. "I think, the laws which are in the interest of farmers are being opposed just for the sake of opposing Modi government. The decision of the parties shows their double standards. The laws are in the interest of farmers," Fadnavis maintained.

The opposition parties are coming together to cause anarchy, but the farmers of the country are well-aware. They will definitely support the laws, he added.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/Dev_Fadnavis)