India / PM apologised for farm laws, but how will he atone for it?: Rahul

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology during his announcement to repeal the three contentious farm laws last month would be “incomplete” without fulfilling the demands of the farmers protesting against the three laws.

Rahul Gandhi also said Modi should explain in Parliament how he would “atone” for bringing in the three “anti-agriculture” laws.

“As PM has apologised for making the anti-agriculture laws, so tell Parliament how will you atone,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi and went on to pose four questions to Modi.

The first question was about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, in which eight people, including four farmers, died in October. Gandhi asked when will Ajay Kumar Mishra, the Union minister of state for home affairs, be removed from his post. Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra was allegedly present inside one of the vehicles which rammed into a group of protesting farmers, killing four of them.

Gandhi then asked about the government’s plan on the compensation amount to be given to the families of the farmers who lost their lives during the agitation.

The Congress leader also questioned the government over the cases lodged against the protesting farmers. “When will the false cases against the satyagrahis be taken back?” Gandhi asked in his tweet.

Tomar said earlier that the matter would be dealt with by the concerned state governments.

Gandhi then asked when a law on the minimum support price (MSP), a key demand of the farmers, would be drafted. The legal guarantee on MSP and withdrawal of cases registered against the farmers have been the major demands made by the protesting farmer unions.

While the three laws have already been repealed after the government passed the Farm Law Repeal Bill, 2021, in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session, the farmer unions have continued their protests pressing for the fulfilment of other demands.

The opposition has criticised the Union government for passing the repeal bill without any discussion in the house.

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Manickam Tagore moved an adjournment resolution in the Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident as well as the removal of Mishra from his position.