Withdraw Bharat Bandh call if you want farmers' welfare: Pralhad Joshi

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday asked those who have given the call for Bharat Bandh on September 27 in protest against farm laws, to withdraw the call if they are concerned about farmers' welfare.

"There is no opposition for reforms in the farm sector, except in Punjab. Even farmers in Punjab, who were not getting even the MSP amount directly to their accounts earlier, have now started understanding the benefits of reforms. Those staging protests in Delhi include traders, and all of them are not farmers," he said.

"Congress manifesto included the closure of the APMC, and we have not closed down APMCs. Congress governments could not bring reforms due to the influence of lobbies. Even M S Swaminathan has stated that his recommendations are being implemented by the Modi government," Joshi noted.

'Don't obstruct'

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "Business and other activities have started to return to normalcy after one-and-a-half years, and obstructing them in the name of bandh is not correct".

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