News Analysis India

Tag: K C Venugopal

  • Cong condemns attack on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam, accuses BJP of trampling people’s rights

    The Congress on Saturday condemned the attack on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam “by BJP goons” and accused the ruling party in the state of seeking to “trample and demolish” every right and justice guaranteed by the Constitution to the people of India. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will not be cowed down by such tactics aimed at intimidating its workers and leaders.

    “We strongly condemn the shameful attack on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra vehicles and tearing of the Congress party’s banners and posters by BJP goons in Lakhimpur, Assam,” he said in a post on X.

    “In the last 10 years, the BJP has attempted to trample and demolish every right and justice guaranteed by the Constitution to the people of India. It wants to subjugate their voices, thereby hijacking democracy,” he added. Kharge said the Congress will not be cowed down by this tactic of attack and intimidation “by the BJP government in Assam, which is responsible for this”. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal also shared a video of the purported attack and said, “Want more evidence of how scared ‘MostCorrupt’ CM Himanta is of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra? Look at his goons vandalise our Congress posters and vehicles!” “He’s so rattled because of the huge impact the Yatra is making, he will stoop to any level,” he said. The Congress alleged that banners and posters welcoming its ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ to Assam’s North Lakhimpur town, through which it will pass on Saturday, have been vandalised.

    The Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, is on its third day’s journey in the state and will pass through several parts of the Lakhimpur district, including the headquarters town of North Lakhimpur, before entering Arunachal Pradesh later in the day.

  • Congress Presidential polls: Sonia Gandhi summons KC Venugopal, Ashok Gehlot 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Congress presidential election gained frenetic pace on Tuesday with party president Sonia Gandhi summoning general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal for an urgent discussion, and Ashok Gehlot calling a late-evening meeting of Rajasthan MLAs before his departure to Delhi for a meeting with the party president.

    Venugopal flew in from Kerala, where he was participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi, to meet the Congress president at her 10, Janpath residence.

    Sources said the two discussed the presidential election, nomination for which is scheduled to start from September 24. Venugopal called Gehlot after meeting Sonia Gandhi and asked him to meet her in Delhi on Wednesday.

    Gehlot has called party MLAs to the chief minister’s residence for a meeting at 10 pm where he is expected to reveal his plans. Sources close to the chief minister said that after meeting Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday, Gehlot will leave for Kerala to meet Rahul Gandhi. From there, he is expected to return to Delhi and stay here till the last day of nomination on September 30.

    With the party’s Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor, meeting Sonia Gandhi on Monday and expressing his desire to contest, the party high command has started preparing for a contest even as more state units adopted resolutions demanding the return of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief.

    Though Sonia Gandhi told Tharoor that there would be no official candidate, sources said that the leadership has made up its mind to field a loyalist who is likely to sail through with the help of the handpicked electoral college comprising 9,300 PCC delegates.

    Gehlot is reportedly the first choice of leadership as the official candidate. He, however, denies being a candidate saying that he will try and convince Rahul Gandhi to contest. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, too, has said that he will try and persuade Rahul to return as party chief.

    Meanwhile, about a dozen state units, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu Kashmir, have passed resolutions calling for Rahul to take the party reins. Senior Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh among others have demanded that the next president be chosen by consensus rather than contest.

    The nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8 and the election, if required, will be held on October 17. The results will be out on October 19.

    If the contest does take place, it will be after over two decades that the Congressmen will be voting to elect their president. The party last saw a contest for the post in November 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada. Before that Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.

    The new president will replace Sonia Gandhi who has become the longest-serving party president. She has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over as the party chief.

    NEW DELHI: The Congress presidential election gained frenetic pace on Tuesday with party president Sonia Gandhi summoning general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal for an urgent discussion, and Ashok Gehlot calling a late-evening meeting of Rajasthan MLAs before his departure to Delhi for a meeting with the party president.

    Venugopal flew in from Kerala, where he was participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi, to meet the Congress president at her 10, Janpath residence.

    Sources said the two discussed the presidential election, nomination for which is scheduled to start from September 24. Venugopal called Gehlot after meeting Sonia Gandhi and asked him to meet her in Delhi on Wednesday.

    Gehlot has called party MLAs to the chief minister’s residence for a meeting at 10 pm where he is expected to reveal his plans. Sources close to the chief minister said that after meeting Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday, Gehlot will leave for Kerala to meet Rahul Gandhi. From there, he is expected to return to Delhi and stay here till the last day of nomination on September 30.

    With the party’s Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor, meeting Sonia Gandhi on Monday and expressing his desire to contest, the party high command has started preparing for a contest even as more state units adopted resolutions demanding the return of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief.

    Though Sonia Gandhi told Tharoor that there would be no official candidate, sources said that the leadership has made up its mind to field a loyalist who is likely to sail through with the help of the handpicked electoral college comprising 9,300 PCC delegates.

    Gehlot is reportedly the first choice of leadership as the official candidate. He, however, denies being a candidate saying that he will try and convince Rahul Gandhi to contest. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, too, has said that he will try and persuade Rahul to return as party chief.

    Meanwhile, about a dozen state units, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu Kashmir, have passed resolutions calling for Rahul to take the party reins. Senior Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh among others have demanded that the next president be chosen by consensus rather than contest.

    The nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8 and the election, if required, will be held on October 17. The results will be out on October 19.

    If the contest does take place, it will be after over two decades that the Congressmen will be voting to elect their president. The party last saw a contest for the post in November 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada. Before that Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.

    The new president will replace Sonia Gandhi who has become the longest-serving party president. She has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over as the party chief.

  • ‘Didn’t use force’: Delhi cops dismiss claims of ‘atrocities’ against Congress leaders, workers

    By Online Desk

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday detained 459 Congress workers and senior leaders, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K C Venugopal and Mallikarjun Kharge, for not following police directions for the maintenance of law and order in the national capital, officials said.

    They also said that allegations of manhandling, injuries to protesting Congress leaders during police action will be diligently looked into.

    Hundreds of Congress workers in Delhi took to the streets and several senior leaders were detained amid a massive show of strength by the party which had called for the Satyagraha march against the ED’s questioning of Rahul Gandhi in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper.

    The opposition party alleged that some of its leaders were manhandled by the police and lashed out at the government for “not allowing” peaceful protests.

    Despite being denied permission, Congress gathered for the protest in different parts of Delhi on Monday.

    They were detained from the Akbar Road, where the Congress headquarter is situated, Q Point APJ Kalam Road and Man Sing Road and taken to the Mandir Marg, Tughlak Road and Fatehpur Beri police stations respectively.

    However, police said that entry of 100 senior leaders and staff of the All India Congress Committee was allowed into the party headquarters through the Akbar Road and Maulana Azad Road roundabout whose list was to be provided in advance.

    ALSO READ | National Herald case: Top Congress leaders, workers march in solidarity with Rahul Gandhi

    The Delhi Police said 15 Lok Sabha MPs, including Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, 11 Rajya Sabha members, including K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, five MLAs of different states and party functionaries were among the 459 people detained in the New Delhi district for not following lawful directions of police for maintenance of law and order.

    All woman workers and functionaries of the Congress detained by the police have been released and suitable legal action is being taken against those who violated orders promulgated under CrPC section 144, a senior police official said.

    “Complaints have been received about injuries to Congress leaders and workers during police action. But no such incident of use of force by police took place as per our knowledge and no MLC case has been reported so far,” said Sagar Preet Hooda, the Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, Zone -II Delhi).

    “Still, if there are allegations of some manhandling during the detention the same will diligently be looked into for appropriate action,” he said.

    According to the police statement, adequate arrangements were made over apprehensions that a huge gathering of Congress leaders and workers may disturb the security and safety of the VIPs, ED office its officers, neighbouring offices, residences and the public, etc.

    “CrPC section 144 is already in force with effect from May 24 this year in the area thereby prohibiting the holding of any public meeting, processions and demonstration,” it said.

    The AICC secretary, in a letter to the police, had assured that a crowd will not accompany Rahul Gandhi to the ED office.

    But as soon as Gandhi left 24 Akbar Road for the ED office, Congress leaders, functionaries and workers accompanied him in the form of a procession, the statement said.

    Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.

    Gandhi, who appeared before a central probe agency for the first time for questioning, arrived at the ED office at 11.10 am on Monday accompanied by a battery of leaders including sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and escorted by armed CRPF personnel.

    He was given an 80-minute break in the afternoon and was at the ED office till past 10 pm.

    Hundreds of Congress workers in Delhi and state capitals took to the streets and several senior leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Randeep Surjewala and K C Venugopal, were detained here amid a massive show of strength by the party which had called for the Satyagraha march against the ED summons.

    The principal opposition party alleged that the Delhi police made a “murderous attack” on its leader Venugopal and others, with former home minister P Chidambaram and Pramod Tiwari sustaining hairline rib fracture.

    ALSO READ | ‘Congress welcomed ED grilling of Abhishek Banerjee, it should do so for Rahul’: Trinamool

    Lashing out at the government for “not allowing”‘ peaceful protest, Congress leaders said they would not kowtow to the Modi government and vowed to continue their agitation.

    The BJP hit back at the Congress, accusing its leaders of putting pressure on the ED, supporting corruption and protecting the alleged assets worth Rs 2,000 crore of the Gandhi family.

    Noting that nobody is above the law “not even Rahul Gandhi”, BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani claimed that never before such a blatant attempt was made by a political family to hold a probe agency to ransom to protect its “ill-gotten” assets.

    Gandhi, 51, went from the party headquarters on Akbar Road to the ED office in central Delhi a few kilometres away in a convoy of seven cars after walking for some distance with his supporters.

    After about two-and-a-half hours, he left the ED office for a lunch break during which he met his mother Sonia Gandhi at the Gangaram Hospital, where she has been admitted, and returned at 3.30 pm.

    Officials said the questioning on Monday continued well past 9 pm and he has been asked to appear before the ED again on Tuesday.

    The former Congress president, a Z+ category protectee of the CRPF after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s SPG cover in 2019, is expected to write down his statement, official sources said.

    Prohibitory orders were imposed in parts of central Delhi that were heavily barricaded.

    The ED is recording the statement of the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The probe is related to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper, published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

    Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and shareholders of Young Indian.

    Rahul Gandhi is expected to be grilled about the incorporation of the Young Indian company, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.

    “We are not scared. The Modi government should be ashamed that they have turned central Delhi into a fortress just because our leader is going to the ED with his supporters,” Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas BV told PTI near the ED office just before he was detained by the police.

    Tempers rose as the day progressed with scenes of slogan shouting and Congress workers jumping barricades and resisting attempts by police to detain them.

    Slogans such as “down down BJP”, and “we want justice” rang out in cities such as Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Guwahati, Jammu, Dehradun and Jaipur.

    The party claimed it was starting Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Satyagraha’, peaceful resistance, again with the march against the Modi government.

    A host of Congress leaders spoke out on the alleged harassment.

    In a statement, the Delhi Police said that 15 members of Lok Sabha including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, 11 members of Rajya Sabha including KC Venugopal and leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, five MLAs of different state assemblies and other functionaries were among the total of 459 detained in the New Delhi district for not following lawful directions of police for maintenance of law and order.

    All woman workers and functionaries detained by police have been released, it said.

    “Some complaints have been received at Tughlak Road police station of New Delhi regarding injuries to congress leaders and workers during police action but no such incident of use of force by police took place as per our knowledge and no MLC case has been reported so far,” said Sagar Preet Hooda, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, Zone -II Delhi).

    “Still, if there are allegations of some manhandling or so during the detention, the same will diligently be looked into for appropriate action,” he said.

    Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot alleged that the government was misusing central probe agencies and this was nothing but “political vendetta”.

    “All leaders from Kerala to Kashmir are being targeted. Democracy is being throttled and we oppose it strongly,” Baghel said.

    Asked whether the party would stage a similar show of strength on June 23 when Sonia Gandhi has been asked to appear before ED, Gehlot said, “The Congress is competent to deal with the situation”.

    “This is a fight for democracy. The government is trying to muzzle the voices of opposition leaders,” added former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat.

    “Now, a satyagraha will take place at every corner,”” he added.

    Surjewala said Congress leaders had done nothing wrong and alleged that “Godse’s descendants fear from the truth and they will not be able to suppress the truth”.

    Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s appearance before the ED, brother-in-law Robert Vadra came out in his support and expressed confidence that he would be exonerated from all “baseless accusations”.

    “I believe the truth will prevail and this harassment of the prevailing dispensation will not have the effect they desire,” he added.

    The Congress party said in a press conference in the morning that all fund movements in this case were legitimate.

    In April, the agency questioned senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation.

    ALSO READ | ‘ED’s questioning of Rahul Gandhi is political vendetta’: Top Congress leaders hit out at Centre

    The questioning of the senior Congress leaders and the Gandhis is part of the investigation to understand the shareholding pattern, financial transactions and role of the promoters of Young Indian and AJL, officials had said.

    The ED recently registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court here took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe against Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

    Swamy had accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds with Young Indian Pvt Ltd paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress.

    The Delhi High Court in February last year issued a notice to the Gandhis for their response to Swamy’s plea seeking to lead evidence in the matter before the trial court.

    The Gandhis had secured separate bails from the court in 2015 after they furnished personal bonds of Rs 50,000 and one surety.

    They contended in the Delhi High Court that the plea by Swamy was “misconceived and premature”.

    The other accused in the case filed by Swamy are close Gandhi aides Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • The ‘idea of India’ in danger under BJP rule, says Congress’ KC Venugopal

    By PTI

    SEWAGRAM: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Monday said the very idea of India was in danger under the BJP rule, and asserted that his party cannot be defeated if its bond with the public is not disrupted.

    Slamming the Centre, Venugopal said the Bharatiya Janta Party had failed miserably to run the government and inflation under it had skyrocketed.

    There is a brewing discontent among the people, Venugopal said and urged party workers to raise awareness regarding these issues among the public.

    “If the idea of the Congress is understood, its ideology is taken to the grassroots and if the bond between the public and the Congress party is not disrupted, no one can defeat us,” he said.

    ​ALSO READ | New ordinances will take CBI, ED from discipline to dutifulness to political masters: Congress

    “The government is trying to divide the country in the name of religion. In the BJP’s rule, the very idea of India is in danger,” a statement quoting Venugopal said.

    The All India Congress Committee general secretary was delivering his concluding speech at the training camp here in Wardha.

    Venugopal further said, “We have forgotten our identity. The word Sevagram itself stands for service to the people. We are facing defeat as we have lost touch with the public.”

    He added that the most important thing was to strengthen the organisation at the booth level.

    The organisation will not grow without the hard work of the workers.

    The BJP and the RSS are afraid of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and were constantly running a campaign to discredit him, he claimed.

    ​ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: BJP weaves poll campaign around Yogi Adityanath’s persona

    “They are aware that Rahul Gandhi is the strength of the Congress and so the BJP is running a campaign everyday to discredit him. The Nehru-Gandhi family has never discriminated in the name of caste-religion and has given equal respect to all,” Venugopal said.

    Speaking at the camp, he said the aim of this training programme was to build new leadership, to bridge the gap between leaders and people, and these will play an important role in re-strengthening the Congress organisation.

    Venugopal informed that the state level training programme will be held in December, while the district level and taluka level ones would be held in January and February respectively.

    Speaking on the occasion, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accused the BJP and RSS of trying to erase the history of Independence.

    “The BJP and RSS have no history and no future. The ideas from this training should be taken to the villages. The battle of ideas is very important and it requires trained people like you to counter the fake narrative of the BJP,” Patole said.

  • Congress says party’s official account blocked by Twitter, hits out at Modi government

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday alleged that the party’s official Twitter account as well as that of a large number of its leaders and workers have been blocked by the microblogging site.

    This comes close on the heels of the blocking of party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account after he shared pictures of the family of the nine-year-old alleged rape and murder victim last week in violation of the law.

    Congress social media department head Rohan Gupta said the party’s official Twitter account and around 5,000 accounts of its top leaders and workers have been blocked by Twitter.

    He alleged that Twitter is acting against Congress leaders under pressure from the government.

    “Twitter is clearly acting under government’s pressure, as it did not remove the same pictures shared by the Twitter accounts of National Commission for Scheduled Castes for a few days,” Gupta said.

    The Twitter accounts of AICC general secretaries Randeep Surjewala, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, party’s whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, Assam in-charge and former Union minister Jitendra Singh and Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev have also been locked, the party said.

    “So! After Shri @RahulGandhi, the Lord @narendramodi Ji and Vassal @Jack & @twitter have locked @rssurjewala, @ajaymaken & @sushmitadevinc. @INCIndia registers its protest and promises to continue the fight for each and all being wronged! We shall hold on @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji,” tweeted Pranav Jha, AICC secretary in-charge of party’s Communications Department last night.

    His account was later blocked too at night.

    “The list goes on.@Twitter locks @JitendraSAlwar and @manickamtagore and many more. Doesn’t Modi Ji understand that we @INCindia’ns have a legacy of fighting even from behind the locks of kaala paani,” he had asked in another tweet.

    “He thinks the virtual locks of Twitter will deter us from fighting for India,” Jha said.

    The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi’s account under pressure from the government.

    Gandhi had tweeted pictures with the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi last week.

    The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took cognisance of Gandhi’s tweet and directed Twitter to act against the Congress leader’s account for violating the privacy of a minor victim, mandated by the laws of the land.

  • Congress to stage nationwide agitation from July 7-17 against inflation, hike in fuel rates

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress decided on Thursday to hold a countrywide agitational programme from July 7 to 17 against the rising inflation and the increase in the fuel prices.

    This was decided at a meeting of the party general secretaries and various state in-charges convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

    All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal, in a statement, said led by the party chief, the AICC team discussed and deliberated upon the important and urgent issues of high inflation, price rise, the skyrocketing rates of pulses, edible oil and other household products as also the unprecedented everyday hike in the petrol and diesel prices.

    He said since May 2, the government has raised the fuel rates 29 times and the price of petrol has crossed Rs 100 per litre in more than 150 cities.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has earned Rs 22 lakh crore in the last seven years by imposing excise duty on petrol and diesel, Venugopal claimed.

    The prices of edible oils have also nearly doubled in the last six months and that of pulses have seen an unprecedented rise, he said, adding that the increase in the wholesale price index in May 2021 has been 12.94 per cent, which is the highest in 11 years.

    “Moved by the plight of the people already suffering on account of the corona pandemic, unemployment and salary cuts, the Congress party has decided to launch nationwide agitation programmes at the block, district and state levels,” Venugopal said.

    These programmes, he said, will be implemented by the state units of the party between July 7 and July 17 and shall comprise leaders and members of the party as well as the AICC’s frontal organisations, including the Mahila Congress, aided by scores of ordinary party workers all over the country.

    Giving details, Venugopal said, the party would launch a countrywide agitation of women involving the Mahila Congress, the Youth Congress and other frontal organisations of the AICC at the block level, and Congress leaders and workers would also take out cycle rallies at the district level.

    “Congress leaders and workers will take out marches and processions at the state level. A signature campaign will also be run at all petrol pumps across the country, demanding a reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel,” the AICC general secretary said.

    Through these programmes, he said the party aims to build a mass movement, which would put pressure on the government to roll back the excessive excise duty on fuel and gas, and provide relief to the already suffering consumers in the times of the pandemic, economic slowdown and unprecedented unemployment.

  • Punjab Congress infighting: Watching developments, will take call on it, says Venugopal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid continued infighting in its Punjab unit, the Congress on Friday said it is watching the developments in the state and will take a call on the situation.

    Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the issue is an organisational matter and the party high command is aware of the developments.

    “This is strictly an organisational issue. Of course, internally, we are watching the situation in Punjab and definitely the party high command will take a call on that,” he told reporters when asked on the open sparring between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.

    The AICC general secretary said he will not like to add anything further.

    “We are watching the developments, we will take a call on that definitely,” he said.

    On whether a committee has been constituted to sort out differences between the warring factions in Punjab, he said, “I am not aware of that.”

    Amarinder and Sidhu have publicly sparred over the sacrilege issue after the Punjab and Haryana High Court last month quashed a probe report into the Kotkapura firing incident, which had taken place in Punjab’s Faridkot in 2015 when people were protesting the desecration of a religious text.

    There has been infighting within the Punjab unit of the Congress with Sidhu taking up issues with the chief minister on one side and party’s Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh alleging that he was threatened by a close aide of Amamrinder Singh.

    Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab, Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, have also been critical of the chief minister and have raised questions on several decisions and issues of governance in the state.

  • Centre held consultations with states, farmers before bringing farm laws: Agriculture Minister Tomar

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre followed “due procedure” before bringing the three new agri laws, and held consultations with states and farmers for facilitating barrier-free trade in farm produce to provide choice to the farming community, Parliament was informed on Friday.

    “Due procedure had been followed while formulating the Ordinances/ Bills,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

    K C Venugopal from Congress and Binoy Viswam from CPI had asked the government to share the pre-legislative consultations followed before bringing the three farm laws and also the number of individuals/organisations/unions consulted for the same.

    Citing reasons for “urgency” to promulgate the three Ordinances in June 2020, Tomar said due to disruption of markets and supply chains during the COVID-19 lockdown, there was “utmost need to allow free direct marketing outside the mandis to facilitate the farmers in selling their produce near to farm gate at remunerative prices.”

    “As COVID-19 situation may have a prolonged effect globally on demand side, hence the urgency for promulgation of…Ordinances, to provide a new facilitative framework to promote barrier free inter-state and intra-state trade to increase market accessibility for farmers to enhance their income,” he said.

    Further, the minister said the draft of the Ordinances had been circulated to various ministries, Niti Aayog, among others, for their comments.

    ALSO READ: Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha demand repeal of farm laws

    “State governments were also consulted through Video Conferencing (VC) on 21st May, 2020, which was attended by the officials of States/ UTs, to obtain feedback on new legal framework facilitating barrier free inter-State and intra-State trade in agriculture produce to provide choice to farmers,” he noted.

    In view of the COVID-19 situation, the government had also “proactively” undertaken many webinar interactions with farmers and other stakeholders on new farm laws during the period from June 5, 2020 to September 17, 2020, Tomar said.

    Based on the suggestions and feedback received from stakeholders such as farmer unions, the definition of “farmer’ has been amended in Para (b) of The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and Para 2(e) in case of The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, he added.

    Responding further to CPI leader’s query on the consultation process followed, Tomar said there has been continuous demand for reforming the agriculture marketing system in India to facilitate farmers in selling their produce for better price realisation, as has been suggested from time to time by various committees.

    “Government of India has been actively and intensively engaging with the states/Stakeholders for about two decades for reforms in agriculture marketing sector to provide accessible markets and barrier free trade facilitates for selling their produce at better price anytime anywhere,” he said.

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    The government had promulgated three Ordinances on June 5, 2020 and subsequently enacted these into Acts on September 27 last year.

    The minister said the government has “proactively” undertaken efforts on series of extension activities through webinars, online conferences, workshops, teleconferencing, social media, print media, electronic media with the stakeholders on the three Ordinances and thereafter on the respective Acts.

    Responding to a separate query, Tomar asserted that these three new laws will benefit farmers.

    However, some of the farmers’ unions have been agitating against the newly enacted farm laws and their main demand has been repeal of these legislations, he said.

    He said the government has engaged itself actively and constantly with the agitating farmers’ unions and 11 rounds of negotiations were held with them to resolve the issues.

    During the various rounds of negotiations, the government has been requesting the agitating farmer unions to discuss the farm laws clause by clause in order to resolve their concerns on the clauses bothering them, he said.

    The government had further explained during the meetings the benefits, including legal validity pertaining to the recently enacted new farm laws.

    “However, farmers’ unions never agreed to discuss the farm laws excepting for demanding their repeal,” he added.

    Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, are camping at various Delhi borders seeking repeal of the three laws for over two months now.