Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday alleged that it was 'agents' and not 'farmers' who were protesting at the borders of New Delhi demanding a repeal of the three contentious farm laws passed by the Union government. EPS spoke at an event in the state as the agitation against the new agricultural laws entered its 21st day.
"Are Tamil Nadu's farmers affected by the three new farm laws? Farmers elsewhere, and agents who are really there, are being backed by political parties here, who are demanding the rollback of the laws," he alleged, hitting out at DMK [resident MK Stalin, who has led protests across the state and demanded the repeal of the three laws.
"People are being brought to the protests, at least as far as Tamil Nadu farmers are concerned. In those areas (Punjab and Haryana), sale of crops can only take place with agents. It is those agents who are protesting, and it is those agents who political parties here are backing. They are not farmers," EPS alleged.
Watch a video of his speech.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting at Delhi-Haryana Singhu and Tikri border and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border for the last 21 days.
Meanwhile, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella organisations part of the agitation, on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court proposal asking the government to form a committee and include representatives of both the Union government and the farmer unions, is a "moral victory" for the agitating farmers, adding that the agitation will continue till the three farm laws are repealed.
The reaction from the AIKSCC came after the top court on Wednesday ordered a joint hearing of the Union government and the farmers' unions in a bid to end the impasse and proposed to form a committee while including the representatives of both the government and the farmer unions to arrive at some acceptable solution.
IANS inputs