Oppn misleading farmers, reiterates PM

“The farmers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades” – Narendra Modi, PM

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Varanasi, November 30

Tearing into the Opposition over the protests against the new agriculture laws, PM Narendra Modi on Monday said those with a history of deceit were playing tricks on the farmers. “They are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades,” he said, in an apparent reference to parties now in the Opposition.

Addressing a public meeting in Varanasi, he said: “We are seeing a new trend in the country. Protests are based on creating doubts through misinformation. We must remember that those doing so are the ones who had for decades deceived the farmers.” The PM claimed that crops worth much more were procured during the first tenure of his BJP-led NDA government than during the Congress-led UPA-II government.

He said small farmers would now be able to take legal action on deals struck outside the mandis, which would not only provide them fresh alternatives but also protect them from being cheated. He said his government had delivered on promises like ending the blackmarketing of urea and fixing the MSP at 1.5 times the cost of production, in line with the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. PTI