Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhaghel on Thursday said the farm Bills passed in the Parliament are against the interests of farmers and if needed, the Congress may move court against their implementation. He also said that if required, the Congress may stall their implementation in the party-ruled States.
The Congress has always fought for farmers and labourers and will continue doing so, Mr. Baghel said while addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on the issue of farm Bills passed in Parliament.
Explainer | Why are the Agriculture Bills being opposed
The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were recently passed by both the Houses of Parliament , amid protests by Opposition parties.
Asked if the Congress would decide on not implementing the Bills in the party-ruled States, he said, “If required, we may take this decision. We are pursuing it stepwise. We have appealed to the President to return the Bills.”
“This decision (passage of Bills) is against the States, farmers and consumers. Whatever that a State government can do under its jurisdiction, we will do. If needed, we will not let the Bills be implemented in our (Congress-ruled) States,” he said.
Mr. Baghel also said that if required, they will approach court as the States were not taken into confidence before the passage of the Bills in the Parliament.
Read farm Bills before stoking fears that farmers will suffer: Jal Shakti Minister tells Opposition
“We have appealed to the President and the Narendra Modi government not to implement the Bills. Many Bills get passed, it is not necessary that all should be implemented. These Bills are also not in the interest of farmers and should not be implemented,” the Congress leader said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving “one shock after another” - in the former of demonetisation, GST, lockdown, where crores of people became jobless and were forced to walk back to their native places, and now farm Bills which is a “black law”, Mr. Baghel said.
Slamming the ‘one nation-one tax’ regime of GST, he said, “We have not received the GST difference amount from April this year.”
“We should have received about ₹3,000 crore from the Central government which we have not received till now and they want us to borrow money from banks,” Mr. Baghel said.
He also slammed the government over the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 , alleging that it was a conspiracy to put the farming sector into the hands of private players, who will “decide the price of food grains and promote hoarding”.
