Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Attacking the BJP and AAP over eviction of farmers from Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said it appears that "two anti-farmer parties" have now joined hands against the country's food providers.
As Congress MPs from Punjab staged a protest outside Parliament House, Kharge posted on 'X' that both AAP and BJP were "intoxicated" with the arrogance of power and are guilty for their actions against farmers while insisting that the 62 crore farmers of the country will "never forgive these anti-farmer parties".
"It appears that two anti-farmer parties have now joined hands against the country's food providers! First the Punjab government called the farmers for talks and then forcibly removed them from the protest site. The forcible detention of senior farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Shri Sarwan Singh Pandher by the Punjab Police cannot be condemned enough," he said.
"Both BJP and AAP, intoxicated with the arrogance of power, have been criminals of the farmers...Whether it is Modi-ji's promise of MSP to farmers or AAP's swift implementation of the three black laws in Delhi, both these parties have betrayed our farmers of the country," he said.
He also said the country has not forgotten Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh when farmers were fired upon during BJP rule and how the son of a minister of the Modi government crushed the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. He also recalled a farmer from Rajasthan hanging himself during AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's rally in 2015.
Sandeep Pathak, AAP General Secretary (Organisation) and MP from Punjab, said only the union government can solve the issues of farmers and blocking roads in Punjab will only harm the farmers.
"Small traders have a lot of issues and the Punjab government is their own government, whatever problems are there related to Punjab, the government is ready to sit with them 24 hours, but the big question is that the demand should be made to the central government. AAP is in support of the demands of the farmers. No government is rejecting their demands and we are also conducting meetings," he said.
Pathak also said in a democracy, solutions can only be found through dialogue, as "blocking roads for such a long time is causing a lot of trouble for the common people, traders, and even farmers."
Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and senior MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, "the real face of the governments that used to say that we are well-wishers of the farmers has been exposed. Bhagwant Mann and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have done the work of beating them (farmers), this should not happen."