Congress accuses BJP of ignoring farmers after coming to power, cites Rajnath's old video

On Thursday, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala slammed BJP for its alleged hypocritical approach pertaining to protests by farmers in the national capital. To buttress his point, he shared an old video of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who visited a farmers' stir near the Parliament during the UPA regime. In the video, the then BJP president is heard saying, "We didn't know that a dharna is going on. If we knew this before, I would have come here on the first day of the dharna itself to give my support. Wherever a farmer is sitting on a protest, we must not see which party or organisation he belongs to". 

Taking on the then PM Manmohan Singh, the BJP leader also reportedly said, "For sure, the PM must have got information through the intelligence agencies. But he did not find it necessary to send a team to find out what the problem is and what the demands are. PM, you should understand this - no force in the world can affect the morale of the country's farmers when they come together on the streets". Slamming certain sections of the ruling party who have cast aspersions on the farmers for protesting against the three agrarian laws, Surjewala contended that BJP's priorities had changed after forming the government at the Centre. Moreover, he questioned the lack of any initiative by Rajnath Singh to resolve the present crisis. 

Read: Row Over Agrarian Laws: Tejashwi Yadav Predicts Exploitation Of Farmer By Private Players

Read: Replace ‘crocodile Tears’ By ‘Kejriwal Tears': SAD On Farm Laws Enforcement In Delhi

Centre to meet farmers again on December 5

Earlier in the day, the fourth round of talks between the Centre and the farmers' unions concluded without any significant progress. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that they would meet again at 2 pm on December 5. Besides him, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and MoS Commerce Som Parkash represented the Centre in the deliberations.

Revealing that the discussion took place in a good atmosphere, Tomar stated that the Union government is willing to discuss the unions' objections pertaining to points such as strengthening the APMC, regulating the private Mandis, dispute resolution and apprehensions over the MSP. Moreover, he exuded confidence of the two sides reaching a consensus on Saturday. On the other hand, the farmer unions remained steadfast in their demand for the repeal of The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Read: Mamata Banerjee Enters Farmers' Row; Calls TMC Meeting & Threatens State-wide Protest