Farmers don’t need sympathy, they need support: Sachin Pilot

Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday said the farmers protesting against the three farm laws do not need sympathy but support. Addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Kotkhawada area of Chaksu (Jaipur), Pilot pointed out how farmers have been agitating for months now. “This crisis should help everyone realise that the three farm laws by the Centre are not just anti-farmer but against the middle class, youth, and true patriots,” he said.

In the mahapanchayat, attended by over a dozen Congress MLAs, a resolution was also passed which sought to ask the Centre to repeal the three new farm laws; a law for purchase on MSP; and reduction in fuel and LPG prices.

Calling the public the biggest power in a democracy, Pilot said, “Through this mahapanchayat, we want to warn the government that the youth and farmers are standing united. The people of 36 communities have taken an oath that all will stand united against the steps taken against farmers.

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“Farmers don’t need sympathy, they need support. They aren’t begging but asking for their rights. The government assured them double their income but has that happened? Such laws will make our children run from pillar to post. They are misleading– there is no one to listen to farmers in the Central government,” he said.

“They talk of caste and religion. The one who produces grain or the one who protects the border doesn’t have a caste. They want to divide us in the name of caste and religion,” said the former deputy CM. He appealed to the farmers to ask the public for support.

Earlier this month, Pilot had addressed a mahapanchayat in Dausa and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan, organised by MLAs who supported him during the political crisis in the state which had threatened to topple the government.

In the mahapanchayat on Friday, organised by MLA Ved Prakash Solanki in Chaksu, over a dozen party MLAs were on the dais with Pilot. “An invite was sent to the CM and the state party chief but they chose not to attend. The presence of over a dozen MLAs is sending a clear political message that all’s still not well within the party,” said a senior party leader on the condition of anonymity.

Reacting to the Congress mahapanchayat, BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said farmers need to understand that the farm laws are in their interest. Majority of the farmers are in favour of the laws,e said. The protesting farmers should think about the government proposal, and call off the protest, he added. “The Congress leaders must stop misguiding the farmers,” he said.