19:29 February 11
Rahul says 'coming to Budget', then backtracks
Earlier during his speech, Speaker Om Birla was heard persuading Rahul Gandhi to stick to the Union Budget, to which the Congress MP replied that he would move to the topic. However, Gandhi later ended his speech saying he would not talk about the Budget, as the government had denied a discussion exclusively for the farm laws.
17:50 February 11
Rahul refuses to speak on Budget in LS; observes silence for dead farmers
New Delhi:Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday refused to speak on the Budget in the Lok Sabha, as he focussed his speech only on the farmers' issues.
Gandhi also dramatically led his party members and those from the TMC and the DMK to observe a two-minute silence by standing to mourn the death of "200 farmers" during the ongoing agitation and said he was doing this as the government has not paid tributes to those who died during the protests.
During his speech, he attacked the government for the three agriculture laws that have triggered protests by farmers at Delhi's borders, saying these legislations will allow industrialists to buy unlimited quantity of foodgrains and hoard them.
Lending his support to the ongoing farmers' protests, he said in Lok Sabha that it was not an agitation of the farmers only but a movement of the country and the government will have to repeal the laws.
"The intent of the three laws are to allow industrialists to buy unlimited quantity of foodgrains and hoard them as much as they want," he alleged.
Gandhi cited the old family planning slogan 'hum do hamare do' to attack the government and said just 4-5 people are running the country.
"The new farm laws will destroy India's food security system and will hurt rural economy," he said.
The Congress leader also said that the farmers are not going anywhere but will overthrow the government.
Read:Centre follows 'hum do, hamare do' policy: Rahul Gandhi
