Opposition to intensify farm bill protests

The farm bills which have been facing a wave of tremendous rage among the farmer, this comes as a boon for the grand old party as well as Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar as the protest which was earlier limited to Haryana and Punjab has covered almost all states including Bihar and UP.

New Delhi: At a time when farmers all across the state staged major protests in different cities against the three farm bills passed in Parliament recently and then inked by President Ram Nath Kovind, it becomes an easy tool for the opposition parties to politicise the issue and play the bills for its 'game-changing' plan for the upcoming Assembly election in Bihar.

Almost all the opposition parties including the major coalition partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which held hands for almost 23 years with BJP-led NDA, abruptly pull out from the alliance a day after the controversial farm sector Bills passed in the Parliament.

However, the bills which have been facing a wave of tremendous rage among the farmer, this comes as a boon for the grand old party as well as Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar as the protest which was earlier limited to Haryana and Punjab has covered almost all states including Bihar and UP.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav during the day of Bharat Bandh demanded that the Centre shelve the three contentious agriculture-related Bills that have led to agitation by farmers in many states.

He said that the protests by farmers were increasing in every state across the country. "They are coming out on the roads to protest against the Bills got passed by the Narendra Modi government," the former Deputy Chief Minister said after leading a 'tractor march' on Patna roads.

Farmers under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) have also decided to take up the campaign at the village level and would try to convince the farmer to come up with robust protest against the bill.

However, the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar during his counter speech in the Parliament had repeatedly assured the farmer about the Minimum Support Price (MSP) but this time the opposition appeal seems more substantial than the ruling government.