Bring fresh legislations to overrule Centre's farm laws, Sonia urges Congress-ruled states
New Delhi/Bengaluru: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday advised party-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass legislations under Article 254(2) to negate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government's "anti-agricultural laws" and prevent the "grave injustice" being done to farmers.
The Opposition party is citing the BJP government's move in 2015 when it asked party-ruled states to bring their own laws to override the land acquisition act of 2013 passed during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure for boosting infrastructure development.
"Congress president has advised Congress-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass laws in their respective states under Article 254(2) of the Constitution which allows the state legislatures to pass a law to negate the anti-agriculture central laws encroaching upon state's jurisdiction under the Constitution," Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal said in a statement.
"This would enable the states to bypass the unacceptable anti-farmers' provisions in the three draconian Agricultural laws including the abolition of MSP and disruption of APMCs in Congress-ruled states," he added.
A Congress MP from Kerala moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the contentious new farm Act.
T N Prathapan, who represents Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, has alleged that the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 is violative of right to equality (Article 14), prohibition of discrimination (15) and right to life and liberty (21) of the Constitution.
The law, which provides for contract farming and was accorded presidential assent on Sunday, is "liable to be struck down as unconstitutional, illegal and void", Prathapan claimed.
In the plea filed through his lawyer James P Thomas, Prathapan said: "Indian agriculture is characterised by fragmentation due to small holdings and has certain inherent weaknesses beyond control such as dependence on weather, uncertainties in production and an unpredictable market. This makes agriculture risky and inefficient in respect of both input and output management."
The plea further said that challenges faced by farmers such as dependence on weather, cannot be addressed by monetisation of the produce to increase their income, instead strengthening the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) system by infusing more capital and effective management of Minimum Support Price.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said his government would approach the apex court over the issue. He also said that Pakistan's spy agency ISI will use farmers' unrest over the new farm laws and will try to foment trouble in the border state of Punjab.
The Congress' youth wing on Monday said a group of its members set a tractor on fire at Rajpath, which connects the India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, in protest against the new farm laws.
Pro-farmer organisations backed by a number of other social and political outfits on Monday staged protests across Karnataka over amendments to Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act and land reform acts amid a statewide bandh.
Farmers, labourers, pro-Kannada activists, and Dalit organisations hit the streets in support of the bandh while thousands of farmers gathered at Mysuru Bank circle and in front of Town Hall in Bengaluru, throwing traffic haywire.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress state chief DK Shivakumar met the protesting farmers and extended their support to the bandh. However, Chief Minister Yediyurappa urged the farmers to wait for six months or a year and gauge the benefits of the farm laws.
