New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again come down heavily on the Narendra Modi government on the three contentious farm laws.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he said that these laws had been brought in just to benefit two friends of the Modi government to buy and hoard the majority of the agricultural produce in the country without legal recourse for farmers on pricing issues.
“Prime Minister yesterday said the opposition did not talk about content and intent of the bills. Let me please him today… let me talk about the intent of the bills. Four people will run this country. Everybody knows who they are,” he said, invoking the family planning slogan of ‘Hum do, hamare do’.
“The PM said it’s an option for farmers. But what’s the option for farmers now – hunger, unemployment, and suicide,” he said.
The treasury benches cited parliamentary rules to stop Gandhi, but the Congress, TMC, and DMK members countered it, by citing rules that the member is free to speak on any issue.
Though Rahul participated in the debate on the general budget, he spoke only on farmers’ issues. He ignored the demands of BJP ministers and the Speaker’s request to stick to the topic — first saying he would get to it, then saying he was ‘laying the foundation’, and finally that will not say anything on the budget since a separate discussion on farm issues was not allowed by the government despite demands by the Opposition.