Congress MP P Chidambaram hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP spokespersons over the farm bills controversy Saturday morning, accusing them of “maliciously” distorting the party’s 2019 manifesto amid a political row between the ruling party and the opposition on this issue.
Ahead of elections last year the Congress suggested changes to farm laws that would see the Agricultural Market Produce Committees (AMPC) Act abolished – something one of the bills proposed by the Narendra Modi government does and something pointed out by the BJP as it defends those bills.
However, Mr Chidambaram said the Congress would have ensured “multiple accessible markets” for farmers looking to sell their produce before scrapping the APMC Act.
“The Prime Minister and BJP spokespersons have deliberately and maliciously distorted the Congress manifesto… Farmers need multiple (easily) accessible markets and choices. The Congress’ proposals would have given them that,” Mr Chidambaram said in his statement.
The former Union Finance Minister pointed out that his party’s manifesto also promised to enable farmers’ companies/organisations to access technology and also set up adequate infrastructure in large villages and small towns to help them trade freely.
“Once that was accomplished the Congress manifesto promise of repealing APMC Act and making trade in agricultural produce free would have been a natural sequel,” he added.
The Narendra Modi government, however, Mr Chidambaram claimed, had “surrendered to corporates and traders”, pointing to the absence of a clause linking the lowest price farmers would get for their produce from private buyers to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) set by the government.
“Why is such a clause absent?” he asked, adding, “The bills (also) undermine the only regulated market available to the farmer without creating thousands of alternatives”.
“The bills (also) assume perversely that the farmer and the private purchaser have equal bargaining power. They do not. The small farmer will be at the mercy of the private purchaser,” he added.