'What About this U-turn?' Jairam Ramesh Rebuffs Nirmala Sitharaman's Attack on Congress' Stand on Farm Laws

After Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress on taking a U-turn on agricultural reforms, party leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the attack with the same question.

“‘We should protect farmer’s interests by mandating through statutory provisions that no farmer-trader transaction should be below MSP’ – recommends the Report on Consumer Affairs under Chairmanship of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in 2011. What about this U-turn, Madam FM Nirmala Sitharaman?” Ramesh said in a tweet, with screengrabs of the report.

Sitharaman had earlier attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament on his comments on the Centre’s farm laws. “I wanted to know from the Congress why it took a U-turn on the farm laws but no reply came,” she said, adding that Gandhi did not tell the House why Congress governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh did not waive farm loans as promised in their manifesto.

Sitharaman further said Gandhi did not talk about the farmers issue in Punjab, where Congress is in power and the steps being taken by the government with regard to stubble burning.

Gandhi also did not refer to any clause in three agri bills which was against the farmers, she said. She said she was expecting that he would announce that Punjab has removed Rs 5 lakh penal provision from its contract farming laws but this announcement did not happen. Congress party is only concerned about “Hum Do and Hamare Do,” Sitharaman said adding that she expected Gandhi to return the land which was taken by someone from farmers at pittance. The exact phrase used by Sitharaman to describe the person was later expunged by the Chair.

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