Shun arrogance and scrap farm laws: Kejriwal to Centre

Kejriwal said the BJP was doing the same thing the erstwhile Congress government did during the Anna Hazare-led agitation against corruption in the UPA regime

Announcing that he will sit on a day-long fast in solidarity with farmers on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the Centre to "shun arrogance" and repeal the three contentious laws besides bringing a Bill to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for agriculture produce.

Kejriwal also found fault with the central ministers and BJP leaders depicting the protesters as "anti-nationals" and asked whether they considered former soldiers, national and international sportsperson who've won medals for the country and others supporting the farmers as such people.

Responding to a call given by farmers, he said he will hold a day-long fast and urged AAP workers as well as the people of the country to join in solidarity. "I will be fasting on Monday. I know many people whose hearts are with the protesting farmers," he said.

"I want to appeal to the Central government to put an end to their ego. The governments are formed by the public, the public is not formed by the governments. The three farm laws should be immediately repealed and the farmers should be given guaranteed MSPs, and a new Bill should be passed on it. All the demands of the farmers should be accepted without any condition as soon as possible," he said.

Kejriwal also referred to the accusations of ministers and BJP leaders and said thousands of ex-servicemen, doctors, lawyers and sportspersons have pledged support to the families. "I also know of celebrities who are children of farmers and supporting the agitation. Will you consider all these people anti-nationals?" he said.

He said the BJP was doing the same thing the erstwhile Congress government did during the Anna Hazare-led agitation earlier in the decade against the UPA regime on corruption.

"I cannot help but recall the days of Anna Hazare's movement. Even in those days, when we were sitting in Ramlila Maidan during the movement, the then Congress government propagated and planted several stories against us in the media. They called us anti-nationals. The attempts made by the Congress to malign our movement in those days, the same kind of attempts are made by BJP against the farmers' movements today. They should not dare to call the farmers of the nation anti-nationals," he added.

He said the BJP believes that the protest comprises only a few farmers from Punjab and Haryana and that it was a "misconception".

Kejriwal said people are aware that the new laws allow one to hoard any quantity of grains and that any person, who has a lot of money, can hoard any amount of grains. "This also means that there will be high inflation. People can hoard till the time the inflation rate doubles every year. For instance, the prices of wheat will double from Rs 20 this year to Rs 40 next year, and then Rs 80, and then Rs 160, and so on," he added.

Farmers are protesting at Delhi borders against the three controversial laws and have announced that they would intensify the protests in the coming days.