Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is, perhaps, fishing for an ideal opportunity to get reinstalled as the party’s presidential position, made preposterous claims in a rally in Punjab on Wednesday to instil fear among the farmers against the recently passed farm bills by the central government.
Speaking at the Day 3 of the Kheti Bachao Yatra, a rally organised by the Congress party in the midst of coronavirus pandemic, the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that if the farm legislations are passed, farmers of India will become slaves of Ambani and Adani and their lands will be eventually owned by them.
He made these wild allegations even after the President gave assent to the Bills which led to passage of the Act. To put things in perspective, when the Bills were up for voting in the Houses of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi and his mother Congress President Sonia Gandhi had both skipped the Monsoon session.
Rahul Gandi makes preposterous claims to oppose Farm Bills
The new agricultural bills (now Acts) passed by the Modi government seeks to remove restrictions on the sale of farm produce, grant farmers the freedom to sell their produce anywhere across the country and thereby increase their earnings substantially. However, Rahul Gandhi proffered ludicrous reasons to oppose the benefits that the new Bills will bring to the farmers. He contended that the abolition of Mandi tax would adversely impact the construction of the roads and infrastructure, which in turn would hinder the farmers from transporting their produce to different markets.
If these laws are implemented then the farmers of India will become slaves of Ambani and Adani. In one or two years, your land will not be yours, it will be theirs: Shri @RahulGandhi #किसान_न्याय_यात्रा pic.twitter.com/yuBce50Vxv
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 6, 2020
“Narendra Modi said that you can sell your produce wherever you want. But in the absence of roads, how will the farmer sell his produce? Roads are constructed from the Mandi Tax and you(Narendra Modi) have abolished the Mandi Tax, which means roads connecting villages to cities and agriculture markets won’t be constructed,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Ironically, while criticising removal of one tax, Rahul Gandhi also criticised imposition of other tax, the Goods and Service Tax (GST). Besides, the Congress MP from Wayanad dredged up the issues of Demonetisation to launch an attack against the Modi government.
He also claimed that the Modi government had not done enough for the farmers who were hit by the coronavirus-induced lockdown. To put things in perspective, in May this year, in about two months after the lockdown, the government had transferred Rs 19,000 crore to bank accounts of over 9.65 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.
Rahul Gandhi’s anti-farm bills rally could be next coronavirus superspreader
It is pertinent to note here that the rally conducted by Rahul Gandhi in the last three days was amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Though the politicians who attended the rally were seen wearing the masks, a majority of people who attended the rally did not wear masks or observe social distancing norms. However, the only saving grace for the Congress party is not many people attended the rally as large numbers of chairs were reportedly unoccupied.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, who had attended the rally yesterday and shared the stage with Rahul Gandhi on Monday, tested positive for coronavirus today. His disregard for coronavirus safety guidelines was apparent when he claimed that “masks hardly mattered”. Despite the Punjab Health Minister testing positive for COVID-19, Rahul Gandhi continued with the Day 3 of the anti-farm bills rally, raising concerns among the public health officials of ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ turning into a potent coronavirus hotspot and infusing fresh life to the pandemic which seemed largely under control up until now.
