3 farm bills should be repealed in Parliament—Therie

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 21 (EMN): President of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) K Therie on Sunday said that the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the contentious farm laws was a ‘huge victory’ for the farmers, who had fought hard to revoke the three laws since November last year.

However, Therie expressed hope that ‘this would not be like the announcement made by the prime minister regarding the Naga political solution’ but implemented in the Parliament.

During a press conference at Tourist Lodge in Dimapur, Therie said that even the peaceful farmers’ protest could not ‘water down the arrogance of the BJP’.

‘The recent bye-election, which resulted in a humiliating defeat to the BJP in the mainland, has cooled down their arrogance’, he added.

Responding to the statement made by Modi on the government’s inability to communicate and convince a small section of farmers which resulted in the protest, Therie maintained that the small section of people had defeated BJP in the bye-election and it was a ‘clear indication of the downfall of the party.’

He added that the ruling government at the Centre had taken many wrong decisions and the government was unable to correct all their wrongs.

‘Therefore, until the three farm bills are repealed in the Parliament, it cannot be acknowledged yet; however, it is the victory of the farmers,’ he said.

Therie said that three farm laws would favour the corporations and take over the affairs of agriculture business. He added that Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) had been functioning successfully and millions of people were employed under the APMC and therefore questioned the relevance of the farm laws.

Meanwhile, with regard to Nagaland, Therie said that the state government had no agriculture policy, APMC and minimum support price (MSP) for farmers.

‘Even though Nagaland has adopted APMC, it is not practising at all. However, the three farm laws will not impact Nagaland but they need to come forward and support the agriculture producing farmers,’ he said.

When queried if re-appeal of the three farm laws would have any implication on the upcoming election in Uttar Pradesh, Therie said: ‘BJP thinks they can win back the hearts of the people by withdrawing it; however the arrogance shown towards the farmers by the BJP will be difficult for them to recover’.

Vice President of NPCC and Chairman of Nagaland Pradesh Kisan Congress, V Lasuh said that they protested against the three farm laws and the Prime Minister of India has apologised to the Nation.

‘But it is not the end and unless MSP is granted in the coming Parliament session, they will continue to protest,’ he added.

Chairman of Minority Department NPCC, Rakesh Kumar Sethi was also present at the press conference.