Cong promises MSP and implementation of Swaminathan report, if voted to power
Ambikapur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday promised to make Minimum Support Price a legal right for farmers and implement Swaminathan report in toto if the India alliance is voted to power in 2024.
Gandhi along with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the use of tear gas on farmers and their arrest for advocating for fair treatment, vowing legal safeguards for MSP if his party comes to power.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of utilising economic policies like GST and demonetisation to ruin small-scale entrepreneurs across the nation, a charge which has been denied time and again by the BJP.
“If the INDIA alliance comes to power, it will provide legal guarantees to Minimum Support Price (MSP) to them,” Gandhi said.
During his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Gandhi also hinted at incorporating recommendations from the Swaminathan Committee into their election manifesto.
“Today, farmers are heading towards Delhi but they are being stopped, tear gas shells are being used on them, and they are being lodged in jails. They are just demanding that they should get a better return for their hard work and farm produce,” Gandhi said at an event at the party’s headquarters in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district.
The statements from Gandhi and Kharge come on a day when clashes erupted at Haryana border points as farmers aimed to breach police barricades en route to New Delhi, met with tear gas by police.
Notably, a law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers are among the prominent demands raised by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation.
Gandhi reiterated his stance on enshrining MSP as a legal right for farmers, citing the unimplemented suggestions of agricultural expert MS Swaminathan, who has been recently awarded Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.
“Swaminathan ji has clearly said in his report that farmers should get the legal right to MSP. But the BJP government has not been doing this. If the INDIA alliance comes to power at the Centre, our government will provide legal guarantees to MSP for farmers,” Gandhi said.
He said the INDIA alliance will honour all the recommendations in the Swaminathan report if voted to power.
“This is our beginning. Our manifesto is being prepared. We are going to work for farmers and labourers,” the Congress leader said.
He pledged that the INDIA alliance would uphold all recommendations from the Swaminathan report upon assuming power, emphasising a commitment to the welfare of farmers and labourers.
