Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said the NDA government's fascist and undemocratic way of functioning had forced the call for a Bharat Bandh and brought the farmers on the streets.
He also said opposing a government is not anti-national.
The Congress party is hoping to gain some political mileage from the farmers' protests and is going all out to attack prime minister Narendra Modi's government.
Gehlot has earlier too hit out at the central government for its mishandling of the issue. He said the government should withdraw the farm laws and apologize to the farmers.
In a statement on Sunday, Gehlot said, "The NDA government has torn to shreds all constitutional customs and democratic norms."
He said dialogue is most important in a democracy but the central government did not talk to farmers' organisations or the state governments on the new farm laws.
"When the government will not listen to the people who are protesting peacefully, won't talk to farmer organisations and opposition parties, the governor won't send bills passed by opposition governments to the president and the president won't give time to chief ministers of opposition party governments, then how will the people express their feelings before the centre?" said Gehlot.
He said the behaviour of the Modi government reeks of egoistic and anarchist thinking and that's why they are not listening to the voice of the people and the opposition.
"Protests, demonstrations and opposition against any government take place because of its policies and decisions, which is necessary in a healthy democracy," said Gehlot.
Farmers from across the country are on the roads today because the Modi government repressed the voice of the people instead of listening to them, he said.
If the government had taken seriously the roadshow taken out by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, things would not have come to such a pass, Gehlot added.
