Delhi CM Atishi asked the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a discussion with farmers from Punjab who have been on a hunger strike to press for their demands, including a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.
Hitting back at Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over his letter about the non-implementation of the Centre’s farm policies in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said the condition of farmers has never been as bad as it was during the BJP’s reign.
In his letter on New Year’s Day, Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said that “political competition” should not become an obstacle to the welfare of farmers as he expressed concern over their condition in Delhi.
In her rebuttal, Atishi said, “The BJP talking about farmers is like Dawood giving a sermon on non-violence… The condition of farmers has never been as bad as it was during the time of the BJP”.
Atishi also asked the Union agriculture minister to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a discussion with farmers from Punjab who have been on a hunger strike to press for their demands, including a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops. “Stop doing politics with farmers,” she said accusing the Bharatiya Janata Paty BJP of firing bullets on and beating up farmers.
Meanwhile, former CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on X that the BJP-led government is “not even talking to the farmers” and claimed that the three farm laws which were scrapped would be brought back “through the back door”.
“Farmers in Punjab have been sitting on dharna and indefinite hunger strike for many days. Their demands are the same which the Centre had accepted three years ago but has not implemented yet. The BJP government has now reneged on its promise. The BJP government is not even talking to the farmers. Talk to them. They are the farmers of our own country. Why is the BJP so arrogant that it does not even talk to anyone?” asked Kejriwal in the post loosely translated from Hindi.
“For the information of farmers across the country, let me tell you that the three black laws which were withdrawn by the Centre three years ago due to the farmers’ agitation, the Central Government is preparing to implement them again through the back door by calling them “policies”. The Centre has sent a copy of this policy to all the states to know their views,” he added.
In his letter to Atishi, Chouhan also said that the AAP has been in power in Delhi for a decade but has not implemented the Centre’s “farmer-friendly schemes”. “The AAP government should rise above party politics and take decisions in the interest of farmers”.
Chouhan’s letter to Atishi came ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections slated in February, which would witness a three-cornered fight between the AAP, the BJP, and the Congress party.
