On Saturday, the Congress party will hold demonstrations around the country to commemorate the repeal of three unpopular agriculture legislation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the pullback in a televised address to the country on Friday, in which he apologised to the protesting farmers and said the government had failed to persuade them of the legislation’ benefits.
The Congress party sneered at the administration, claiming that the decision was made not for the government’s benefit, but for the sake of the impending elections. On Saturday, the party stated that it would celebrate ‘Kisan Vijay Diwas’ and hold victory rallies.
Congress officials would visit the families of the nearly 700 farmers who died as a result of the agitation and perform candle marches and rallies to pray for them as part of the plan.
K C Venugopal, general secretary (organisation) of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), has instructed all state units to organise demonstrations and candle marches at the state, district, and block levels.
“Let us organise a large number of programmes to join the rest of the country in celebrating this as a historic triumph for farmers. Visit the families of shaheed farmers in our districts to commemorate the victory of the farmers’ battle “In a letter to the party’s state unit chiefs, he stated.
Parliament passed the agriculture laws in September of last year. While the Centre stated that the regulations support farmers, the cultivators immediately protested, claiming that the laws benefit big corporations.
The protests began in Punjab and Haryana and then extended to other regions of the country. Farmers gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call and assembled at Delhi’s borders in November of last year. They’ve remained camped there since since, and many rounds of talks have failed to find a way out of the impasse.
Farmers have praised PM Modi’s announcement, but have stated that they will leave the protest location only the farm regulations are abolished by Parliament.
