West Bengal Assembly passes resolution demanding withdrawal of new farm laws

The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the Centre’s new farm laws. The resolution, moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee, demanded immediate withdrawal of the contentious laws.

It demanded that the Centre should either immediately withdraw the farm laws or step down.

“The prime minister must convene an all-party meeting to discuss the process of withdrawal of the new farm laws,” the chief minister said.

Read: SC asks Thrissur Congress MP to show which provisions of farm laws take away MSP

Accusing the Delhi police of failing to handle the situation during the agitating farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day, she said the chaos was the result of an “intelligent failure” on part of the Delhi Police,
“What was the Delhi Police doing when the incident took place? This is a total intelligence failure on their part. The Delhi Police should be blamed for the incident,” said Mamata.

“We will not tolerate the way farmers’ are being labelled as traitors,” she added.

The chief minister appealed to the Left Front and Congress to support the resolution. Although they supported the resolution but demanded that the state government must draw similar laws passed by it earlier.

Ruckus took place in the Assembly with BJP MLAs led by their Legislative Party leader Manoj Tigga said trooped to the Well of the House after the resolution was moved.

Subsequently, they staged a walkout while raising slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram.”

Addressing the gathering at the TMC headquarters in Kolkata the chief minister said: “either the Centre should withdraw the farm laws or Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah must resign."

She further alleged that the Centre was failing to control the situation everywhere in the country.

She further alleged that the BJP was trying to create a “Bengali-non Bengali divide” in the state after realising that its tactics of polarising Hindus and Muslims would not succeed in Bengal.

“BJP is now trying to create Bengali-non Bengali divide because they know Hindu-Muslim politics will not work here. You all have the responsibility of voting for the TMC,” said Mamata.