A lot of liberal ‘intellectuals’ have suffered severe trauma watching the rise of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in electoral politics which has made their sermons and their bizarre opinions utterly irrelevant in Indian politics. No one, perhaps, has suffered more of a mental breakdown than ‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav who can be spotted trotting from one protest to the next in his effort to bring down the government at the center.
Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday addressed people through periscope where he revealed the four core demands that the ‘farmers’ will discuss on the talks proposed with the government on Wednesday. The demands are quite bizarre and have far exceeded the initial farm laws that triggered these protests. Now, it appears, the ‘intellectual’ appears to have convinced some of the protesters to make a grab for whatever they extort from the government.
‘Repeal farm laws’
Yogendra Yadav made it clear that nothing short of a complete repeal of the laws will work. He said that there will be no discussion on whether the laws should be repealed or not, “the laws must be repealed”. Only discussions related to the modalities of the repeal will occur, not whether they should be repealed.
Another intriguing feature of the latest speech by the crazy ‘intellectual’ is that he constantly refers to himself as one of the farmers protesting against the laws. But it is not clearly precisely when he became a farmer. Only recently, he was thrown out by the government of a meeting because it was insisted that there will be a discussion with only farmers, not politicians.
‘Market intervention and other prospective measures for MSP’
Yogendra Yadav said that they need a law to ensure MSP and not in written. Again, he says that there will be no debate on it and only discussion regarding the manner in which it will be implemented. In order to achieve that objective, he suggests measures that could be adopted for the same.
The proposed measures include the government paying the difference between the MSP and the price at which the farmers sold the product in the market. Another suggestion he makes is the government intervenes in the market and ensures that the cost of the product does not fall below the MSP.
‘Repeal stubble burning laws that punish farmers’
Yogendra Yadav also said that they will discuss the repeal of laws against stubble burning which is a major contributory factor towards air pollution in the NCR region and surrounding areas. There is provision for punishment against farmers engaging in the process and the ‘intellectual’ wants it repealed.
Draft Electricity Bill
Yogendra Yadav claims that in the Draft Electricity Bill, there are provisions which will ensure that farmers do not receive free electricity or electricity at subsidized rates. He wants the government to withdraw that draft as well.
In Bad Faith
Yogendra Yadav is clearly acting in bad faith here and is fully aware that the government does not have the resources to consent to at least one of the demands. One also has to ask here what do the laws against stubble burning have to do with the current spate of protests.
The intent here is clearly ‘My way or the high way’ which is evidently not the manner in which a person approaches honest negotiations. Yogendra Yadav has long been trying to undermine the NDA Government at the center and he finally appears to have found something that he believes will stick.
It also reveals that the protests have now far exceeded what the initial demands were. Now, people like the crazed intellectual is making ridiculous demands that they know the government cannot accept. He is well aware that accepting such demands will cripple the economy forever.
And yet, he is making such demands because the objective is to embarrass the government no matter what the cost is. In their hatred for Narendra Modi, it appears there is no boundary they will not cross.
The amusing part is ‘intellectuals’ and opposition party politicians have been demanding the same reforms that the new farm laws provide for. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Raghuram Rajan, there was widespread consensus regarding the necessity of these reforms. But now that they have been implemented, everyone is up against the government only to score political brownie points.
