“How many more sacrifices would it take from our farmer brothers to repeal the farm laws ?” asked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.
He shared photographs of 11 farmers who reportedly died in the past 17 days of the farmers’ agitation .
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The party also accused Cabinet Ministers of branding every opponent of the government as Maoists and traitors.
The Opposition party’s allegation against Cabinet Ministers branding opponents as Maoists came after Railway, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, in an interview, alleged that certain Leftist and Maoist elements seemed to have “taken control” of the agitation and were pursuing their own agenda instead of discussing farmers’ issues.
On Friday, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, too, had said some “anti-social elements” were conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasants’ movement under the guise of being farmers.
“I am also extremely disappointed with the fact that Cabinet Ministers are attempting to cast unfounded aspersions on the motivations of the protesters. In a tense environment, such statements would harm any efforts to build trust between Indians and the government. The farmers have been peacefully protesting since September and have followed the highest ideals of democratic dissent,” said former Punjab Congress head Partap Singh Bajwa.
In a series of tweets, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala alleged that the Modi government was refusing to listen to the farmers despite so many of dying during the agitation.
He accused the Modi government of standing with its dhandaata (funder) instead of annadaata (farmer) despite so many deaths.
“Modi ji, Autocracy has no place in democracy. The policy of you and your ministers is to declare every opponent as Maoist and a traitor. Please apologize and accept the demands of the annadaata (farmer) who are sitting on dharna amidst biting cold and rain,” Mr. Surjewala said in another tweet, tagging Mr. Goyal’s interview.
