New Delhi: BJP president J P Nadda on Friday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for changing the country's political culture by not bowing down to any pressure and upholding the rights of the downtrodden, and cited three farm sector bills as an example of his resolve.
The three bills have been passed by Lok Sabha amid protests by opposition parties and BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal. They will now be tabled in Rajya Sabha.
Speaking at the party headquarters here at the launch of a special edition of the party mouthpiece, 'Kamal Sandesh', which highlights the life journey of the prime minister to mark his 70th birthday on Thursday, Nadda said that Modi had empowered the farmers through these bills and liberated them from middlemen.
"We have seen many governments but the pro-poor welfare and economic reforms under the leadership of Modi and other changes brought to keep the unity and integrity of the country intact is something unimaginable and amazing," he said.
Prior to 2014, under the governments of the Congress and its allies, caste-based calculations and politics of appeasement ruled, but Modi has changed the culture of politics and brought in development, service, public welfare and dedication to the fore.
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"Yesterday, two important bills related to agriculture, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Simplification) Bill and the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Agreements Bill on Agricultural Services Bill were passed in Lok Sabha. These three bills will liberate farmers from the middlemen and all other roadblocks," he said. One bill was passed by the House earlier.
Nadda asserted that the system of selling farm produce under the agriculture produce market committee and the MSP from the Centre will continue to exist and alleged that those who stand with middlemen are "speaking the language of middlemen and not of farmers.
These reforms will provide new opportunities to farmers to sell their produce, which will increase their profits and empower them, he said, accusing the opposition of deliberately "misleading" farmers.
Nadda said that the Congress had itself promised in its manifesto that it would remove Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).
"The system of minimum support price (MSP) and government procurement through APMC will continue. The farmers will not be compelled to sell their produce to the licensed traders by going to the market. Now the farmer will be free to decide. Farmers have been empowered by being given the option of selling produce," he said.
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PTI
