Opposing the contentious Farm Bills passed by the Parliament, the Left parties and Congress on Friday staged protests in Telangana as part of the nationwide agitation against the BJP-led Union government. The CPI and CPI-M, their affiliated organisations, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and other farmers' bodies participated in the protest held at Aayakar Bhavan (Income Tax office) in the heart of the city.
Raising slogans against the Union government and holding placards, the protestors sat in front of the Income Tax office. Terming the new legislations as 'anti-farmer' they demanded their immediate revocation.
The Congress party also organised protests across the state. Party leaders and workers participated in the sit-in at district and Assembly constituency headquarters. The party also held a candlelight rally last night at Ambedkar Statue near Tank Bund.
Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, speaking at the protest, said, "These laws are going to cause the collapse of the system of selling farm produce in market yards. Because of the interference of the centre, the states have to lose their constitutional right of agricultural markets which is under the state list.”
He demanded the government should amend the law by inserting a clause to ensure that farmers get Minimum Support Price (MSP) whether they sell their produce in market yard or outside.
Farmers protested in Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, too.
In a first-of-its-kind show of solidarity, 31 farmer organisations in Punjab announced a joint protest.
Several trains have been suspended in Punjab since Thursday as farmers began a three-day 'rail roko' campaign against the laws.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), one of the big farmer groups, which organised the protest in Punjab and Haryana said that the farm laws were an attempt to break the mandi system and abolish MSP (Minimum Support Price).
BKU Haryana state president Guram Singh alleged, "Through these laws, they (the Union government) have set up the structure to break the mandis and abolish the MSP."
In solidarity with the protesters, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a tweet said, "This is to make farmers slaves and the farmers will become labourers in their fields and neither they will get the MSP nor respect."