Chidambaram attacks PM on farmers issue
Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
New Delhi: Amid a deadlock between the agitating farmers and the Centre, senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the latter has accused the opposition of "spreading lies".
In a statement, Chidambaram said: "(The) Prime Minister has once again accused the opposition of 'spreading lies'. Here are three so-called lies that he may wish to comment upon, AIKSCC, which is coordinating the farmers' protests, has said that farmers are selling paddy at Rs 900 per quintal though the MSP is Rs 1,870 per quintal. Is that a lie?
"A Delhi court that acquitted Tablighi Jamaat members said it is probable that the accused were picked up to maliciously prosecute them upon directions from the MHA. Is that a lie? The CBI has contradicted the UP police and charged four accused of gangrape and murder of the the Hathras victim. Is that a lie?"
The former Union Minister's remarks came in response to Modi, who on Friday flayed the opposition for supporting the protesting farmers, claiming that the rival parties were using the shoulders of the farmers to attack his government.
Virtually addressing the 'Kisan Mahasammelan' in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Modi said that the opposition parties were playing games to regain lost political ground by creating a web of confusion and lies.
"I wish to tell all political parties that they can keep political credit. I don't want credit. I only want the lives of Indian farmers to be easy, want their prosperity, and modernity in farming. Stop misleading them, stop confusing them," Modi remarked.
Taking a dig at the opposition without naming any party, the Prime Minister said that he felt that they were pained not by the improvements brought about in the agricultural laws by his government but by the fact that Modi had been able to do what they had been saying all these years but could not do.
Modi also listed the advantages of the new agricultural laws enacted in September, the trigger to the ongoing protests.