Centre's new farm laws 'criminal', will fight them, says Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Keeping up the attack on the NDA government at the Centre over the new farm laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Tamil Nadu, said that they were "criminal" and vowed to oppose them in the interest of the farmers.

The laws were aimed at benefitting "5-6 people closest" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, adding that Modi wanted the farmers to negotiate with "huge corporate" rather than the farmers going to mandis or negotiating with small traders.

"The result is going to be that millions of people who are employed by this agriculture system–farmers, labourers, loaders, small traders–all these people are going to be unemployed," he claimed.

"...they are trying to help 5-6 people closest to the Prime Minister and they are hurting the interest of millions and millions of farmers," he said about the Centre.

Referring to the protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana, Gandhi said, "The Prime Minister is calling them terrorists. So we are stopping these laws and protecting your interests. These are criminal laws against the farmers of India...they are trying to replicate a failed model."

Charging Modi with "remote controlling" the Tamil Nadu government, Gandhi asked why central agencies were not probing corruption in the state. "In every opposition (ruled) state, Prime Minister Modi uses the CBI and ED to attack the opposition. Why is the investigation into corruption in Tamil Nadu stopped."

Lashing out at the RSS, he said that its ideology was "anti-Tamil" which is "aimed at weakening the spirit of Tamil people and we will never allow it to happen.

Alleging that prior information on India's air strikes in Balakot in Pakistan in 2019 was 'leaked' to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and sought to blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi for it, Rahul Gandhi said, "It was also a 'breach' of the Official Secrets Act."

The Congress MP, however, did not provide evidence to back up his claim. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) also did not immediately respond to the unfounded claim.

"Only five people including the PM and the Defence Minister would have prior information of the planned strikes. Some days back it came out that a journalist knew about the air strikes in Balakot. Three days before the (Indian) air force bombed Pakistan, an Indian journalist was told it was going to happen," he said in his public address in the state's Karur district.

This meant the lives of our IAF pilots were put at 'risk,' he said, adding, "Now, five people in this world knew about Balakot (air strikes). Prime Minister of India, the Defence minister of India, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of the Air Force and the Home Minister."

"Nobody else in the world knew about Balakot before it happened. Now I want to understand why an inquiry has not started on who told this journalist about Balakot before it happened. The reason is that one of these five people told this man. One of these five people betrayed our Air Force," he claimed.

"If the Prime Minister did not do it then why is he not ordering an inquiry. Think about it. The only reason that the Prime Minister has not ordered an inquiry is because he is the person through which that message has gone to this journalist," Gandhi claimed.