Rejecting Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's remarks that Congressmen are sleeping over farmers' issue, party veteran P Chidambaram on Monday refuted the allegations and said that the party has supported the agitating farmers.
"It is completely incorrect. Congress has also supported the farmers' movement," Chidambaram said while talking to ANI exclusively.
The senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Sunday blamed his party over farmers' protest and said that farmers of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are protesting against farm laws because Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing injustice to them. Farmers of Madhya Pradesh are innocent but even Congressmen are sleeping. Wake up, join the stir and raise voices against these laws.
After Singh's remarks over Congressmen are sleeping on the farmers' issues, party veteran leader P Chidambaram strongly rejected the allegation and said that he does not know in what context he said it, but if he had said it in farmers' context then it is not correct because the Congress party is the first party who raised the voice against these three farm laws.
Reminding him that Congress was the first party who said farm laws anti-farmer.
"Please remember the Congress party had condemned the bill when they were brought and had said it is anti-farmers. First Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh wrote to the Prime Minister. I wrote three columns on the farm bills pointing out the deficiency in the farm bills. The Congress party wanted to move amendments in the Rajya Sabha and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha ignored amendments and declared the bill passed by the voice of vote. So it is completely wrong to say that the Congress party did not protest. In fact, we were the first one to raise the voice of protest." Chidambaram told ANI.
Meanwhile, Former Union Minister and Congress veteran P Chidambaram strongly pointed out that the party had protested in support of farmer protest.
"Subsequently throughout the country, Congress party has organised demonstrations. In Tamil Nadu we had at least three major conferences on the farm laws in Vellore," Chidambaram said.
"Please remember, the farmers have appealed to all parties to stay away from the stage at Singhu border That is why we are staying away but Congress MPs have observed one day fast at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premises in a few days ago. The MPs have extended their support to the farmers' protest and ordinary Congress workers in small towns have organised demonstrations in front of state and central government offices," he said.
The Congress leader also took a jibe at Prime Minister and accused him that he speaks a lot but he did not find time to visit farmers' protest sites.
"He speaks about the farmers in other places but he does not find the time to go the Haryana-Delhi border and address them nor he mentions them in his monthly speech over radio and television. It is his style that he treats with disdain any opposition that is not a good thing for a Prime Minister," he added.
