Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, MP, has lashed out at the Centre over the three contentious farm laws stating that the BJP-led NDA government has been exploiting the ignorance of the farmers.
Speaking after inaugurating a convention of the United Democratic Front (UDF) Kalpetta constituency here on Thursday, Mr. Gandhi said majority of the farmers were ignorant of the new agriculture laws and if they knew, the country would have been on fire.
Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Gandhi said the country was being run by the Prime Minister for a few big businessmen. They were looting the farmers with the support of the Prime Minister, he said.
Mr. Gandhi alleged that Central agencies such as the CBI were being used for political gains. However, such agencies were not targeting the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the State, instead they were turned against the Congress leaders in the State.
“In every Opposition party-ruled States, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are used aggressively by the BJP. There is no such thing in Kerala. There is no such pressure on the LDF government here. The CBI and ED are very relaxed on the cases here,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Mr. Gandhi said the State government had failed to set up a government medical college in the district. This would materialise only if the UDF came to power in the State in the forthcoming Assembly elections, he said.
Mr. Gandhi said he would put pressure on both the Centre and the State governments to adopt steps to mitigate the increasing man-animal conflict in the district.
The hill district would be made a hub of spices to address the crisis faced by farmers, Mr. Gandhi said. Priority should be given to youths in the coming Assembly elections and selection of candidates should be transparent, Mr. Gandhi said.
All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal delivered the key note address. Razakh Kalpetta, chairman, UDF Kalpetta constituency, presided over the function.
