BJP ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party quits NDA in protest over farm laws

New Delhi: The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party led by Hanuman Beniwal on Saturday said it was quitting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to protest the three agricultural laws that have provoked massive demonstrations by farmers.

"I am not stuck with Fevicol with the NDA. Today, I separate myself from the NDA. We won't stand with anyone who is against farmers," Mr Beniwal said, addressing protesters at the Shahjahanpur-Kheda border in Rajasthan's Alwar district after leading rally against the new laws and promising a march to Delhi.

"I was stopped from entering the Lok Sabha with a fudged Covid report. Had I been there, I would have thrown away the copy of the farm bills in the house," said the 48-year-old politician who had earlier declared that his party will "think about continuing" with the NDA if the "black laws" are not repealed.

Mr Beniwal, a Lok Sabha MP from Rajasthan's Nagaur, had launched the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) in Rajasthan after quitting the BJP before the 2018 state polls. The party allied with the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The RLP is the latest member of the NDA to leave the alliance which earlier has seen high-profile exits in the Shiv Sena last year and the Shiromani Akali Dal, which quit in September after facing a backlash from farmers.

Farmers launched a massive demonstration last month against the three new central government which they fear will eventually dismantle regulated markets and stop the government buying wheat and rice at guaranteed prices.

Thousands of farmers from several states have been camped on the outskirts of New Delhi for over a month, blocking highways to demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government repeal the farm laws passed in September with little debate.

Assuring farmers that they do not face any threat, PM Modi has said that the protests are politically motivated and that "some people" were spreading lies and rumours about the reforms for the agricultural sector.