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New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Miffed over the recently passed controversial Farm Bills, the Congress has decided to launch a nationwide agitation against the government on September 24. It will also collect two crore signatures from the farmers which the party will submit to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking withdrawal of these Bills.
The decision to hold country wide protest was taken at the meeting of the Congress general secretaries, state in-charges to discuss the important issues. The meeting of the senior Congress leaders was called in the absence of party interim chief Sonia Gandhi and former party President Rahul Gandhi.
Sonia is outside the country for her annual medical checkup. She is accompanied by Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking to media after the meeting, former Defence Minister A K Antony said, "Congress is launching agitation against the government for passing this anti-farmer and anti-people laws."
"We will be holding agitation across the country from September 24 onwards asking the government to repeal the anti-people and anti-farmer black law," he added.
Slamming the government, Congress leader Ahmed Patel said that the government is marching towards "dictatorial" form. "They have murdered the democracy by not allowing the Opposition to speak as the Opposition doesn't exists for them," he said.
"The issue was important as the Agriculture Bills passed by the government are soon going to become law are neither beneficial for the farmers nor for the state governments and the labourers as the food and procurement, the PDS system and MSP system are all interconnected. We tried to raise our voice in the Parliament but now we will take this issue to the farmers and labourers as it will have worst effect on them," Patel said.
Congress General Secretary (Organisations) K. C. Venugopal said, "Since Covid-19 pandemic is going on, this was the first meeting at the party office and we discussed the latest political situation in the country and the farmers issue."
Lamenting at the government, Venugopal said, "The way in which the government is bulldozing the anti-farmers law in Parliament is totally unacceptable to the country and people of India."
He said what we witnessed in Rajya Sabha yesterday (Sunday) and today (Monday), we didn't expect this from a democratic government. The Bills which are going to have serious repercussions on the farmers of the country there should have been be a thorough discussed.
"What happened is known to everyone. The government want to push the Bills in a haste while the Congress and other ppposition parties have given the amendments for the Bills and resolutions and also demanded for a select committee to discuss the Bills, but nothing was accepted by the government," he added.
Venugopal said that the Congress demanded for voting on the Bill but that also rejected. "They are talking about the rules, procedures and healthy democracy in Parliament. Unfortunately Prime Minister Narendra Modi is misleading the country by saying that opposition has done mistake," he said.
Venugopal further said that the Congress raised the voice of farmers as its duty and the government suspended eight MPs. "But the suspension of MPs will not give solutions to farmers. We are starting national agitation, we are totally with the farmers organisations those who are fighting these Bills and we are totally with all the political parties who are fighting for farmers," the Congress leader said.
"We will observe October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, as 'save farmers and farm labourers day'. We will hold dharnas and marches at every assembly headquarters and district headquarters on the Agriculture Bills and raise our demand of immediate withdrawal of these Bills," he said.
"On October 10 all state units must hold state level Kisan sammelan at every state headquarters or any important headquarters in the state. We are starting a massive signature campaign and we will collect two crore signatures from the farmers across the country and will submit a memorandum on November 14, on the anniversary of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru's birth anniversary, to the President," Venugopal added.
--IANS
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