 "What's the big deal?: Rahul Gandhi asks Centre on MSP amid farmers protest")
Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, raised questions on the Centre's intentions as he asked what the big deal is in accepting farmers' demand for a law-mandated minimum support price (MSP), for which hundreds are protesting on the borders of Delhi.
Amid his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is currently passing through Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Gandhi said, "Farmers are going to Delhi... Today, I saw a photo of farmers feeding the policemen… meanwhile the police are stopping the farmers... What are the farmers demanding? Farmers are de MSP. What is the big deal in this? ..."
Gandhi asked that if the Centre can forgive the loans worth Rs 14 trillion taken by businessmen, why can they not bear this cost for the farmers? Pointing towards Lok Sabha elections, he further said, "Congress has written this in its manifesto that we will bring the legal guarantee for MSP…"
Farmers' continue to protest
Gandhi's attack on the Narendra Modi government followed amid the farmers' agitation since last week. The agitation, being carried out by about 200 farm bodies, seeks the fulfilment of 12 demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP.
Meanwhile, the Centre, on late Sunday, offered to purchase entire quantities of masoor, urad, arhar, maize and cotton over the next five years at their MSP throughout the country to break the logjam in talks with protesting farmers.
However, the farmers have expressed that they won't settle for anything less than an ordinance.
The Congress leader's latest attack on the Modi government came in Amethi, which used to be Congress turf until the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by a margin of around 55,000 votes.