Punjab: Farmers’ Bodies Unimpressed by Rahul Gandhi’s Show Of Support

They believe the Congress wants to benefit from the movement electorally, and doesn’t really care about the issues.

Mohali: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently leading a three-day Kisan Bachao (Save Farmers) rally in Punjab, will end his campaign against the contentious farm Bills on Tuesday in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. On October 5, on the second day of his rally, Gandhi reached Sangrur with chief minister Amarinder Singh and Congress state chief Sunil Jakhar. From there, addressing a gathering, he raised some points against the Centre, which 31 farmer organisations leading the farm agitation have been raising since June of this year.

He said, “What was the need to bring these Bills at the time of the coronavirus pandemic? Because Narendra Modi thinks that if such Bills are introduced at the time of coronavirus, the farmers will be unable to come out of their houses and protest against them.”

Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him anti-poor, anti-labourer and anti-farmer. He said, “Like he (Modi) finished small shopkeepers and small-medium businesses with GST (Goods and Services Tax) and demonetisation, he is finishing farmers and labourers the same way and slashing your throats with these three laws.”

While attacking the Centre, however, Gandhi admitted that there are “loopholes” in the current system involving mandis, PDS system and the MSP regime but he said that Prime Minister Modi is “not doing anything to fix existing problems.”

In what is being seen as a vague assurance by many farmers’ unions, Gandhi told the people and the farmers of Punjab that when Congress comes back to power in the Centre, they will repeal the three farm Acts.

Chief minister Amarinder Singh also made a request to the senior Congress leader. He said, “I request Rahul ji to scrap these black laws when he becomes the PM with a majority in the Lok Sabha.”

Meanwhile, farmers’ unions welcomed support of opposition political parties. However, many of them also appeared unimpressed by Gandhi’s promises. The protests against farm Bills were first started by unions and they have been maintaining a distance from political parties so that the protests remain largely autonomous.

Speaking to The Wire, two farm leaders from the 31 farmer organisations feared that many parties are attempting to gain politically from farmers’ protests.

Also read: What Will the Legal Challenge to the Modi Government’s Farm Bills Look Like?

Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), called Gandhi’s show of support mere lip service. “I also said this at an early gathering today and I am saying this again, neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress party have any sympathy for Punjab’s farmers,” he said.

He added, “If they really had sympathy for our cause then why didn’t they show their support in New Delhi, when we were protesting outside the parliament? Why didn’t he or other Congress leaders join us there? He (Gandhi) is here today only to show off.”

Singh said that while this movement is a united effort of many, political parties are trying to hijack it for their benefits.

“All farmers know that it was the Congress who signed on the World Bank report on agriculture. They’re all on this together,” he said while adding that BJP’s disregard for India’s federal structure and stakeholders in decision-making is worse.

Jagmohan, on behalf of his union, also slammed the tractor rally of the Akalis which was held last week, from Amritsar to Chandigarh.

Satnam Singh Pannu from the Kisan Sangharsh Committee echoed this.

“There is no disagreement among any of these parties on the need for privatisation or the removal of the APMC Act. Modi and Rahul Gandhi, both agree with each other on this. All these rallies are part of preparation for upcoming polls in the state in 2022,” he said.

“They are doing it for votes, not for farmers,” he added.

Also read: Punjab: Over 13,000 Village Panchayats to Veto Centre’s Farm Acts

The mood at many protest sites across the state is the same too. On September 25, on the day when farmers held a nationwide strike, many protest sites had barred political party leaders. “We welcome their support but we will not share the stage with them,” Gurvinder Singh of Bhartiya Kisan Union had told The Wire.

Nonetheless, opposition support to the protests against farm Bills have foregrounded issues of farmers in the national polity over the last few months.