'Opposing what you advocated': J P Nadda slams Rahul Gandhi over farm laws

The Congress has backed the farmers' protest against three agriculture-marketing laws

The BJP on Sunday dug out Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Lok Sabha, making a strong pitch for removal of middlemen in farm trade, accusing him of hypocrisy by taking a stand against the agricultural reforms.

BJP President J P Nadda shared a video of Rahul’s speech in the Lok Sabha in May 2015 where he is seen advocating a policy to allow farmers to sell their produce directly to buyers.

“What is this magic, Rahulji? You are now opposing what you advocated earlier.. You have nothing to do with the interest of country or farmers. You want to play politics. But your hypocrisy will not work... the people and the farmers have realised your dual character,” Nadda said on Twitter.

In the video, Rahul had narrated a conversation between himself and a farmer from Uttar Pradesh. The farmer had told the former Congress president that he could get a better price for his potato crop if he could sell directly to factories that make potato chips.

In his speech, apparently made in the last Lok Sabha when he was an MP from Amethi, Gandhi is heard saying that a farmer during his trip to Uttar Pradesh asked him to explain the "magic" behind a packet of potato chips costing Rs 10 while farmers sell potato for Rs 2 per kg.

That was the idea behind a food park, and this is in a way what farmers and labourers of Amethi and 10-12 districts of Uttar Pradesh have been fighting for, he says in the clip.

Farmers' protest live updates on DH

Gandhi had accused the Modi government during its first term of shelving the food park project in Amethi. The government had denied the charge and said the park never had land.

Last week, Rahul had led a march of Congress lawmakers and leaders to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking repeal of the three farm laws which include allowing farmers to sell their produce directly to buyers without middlemen, among other provisions.