Modi government ruins farmers' lives to help corporate pals: Shabbir Ali

Kamareddy: Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that the BJP government at the Centre, headed by Prime Minister Narender Modi, is misusing its strength in Parliament to help a few corporates by ruining the lives of crores of farmers.

Shabbir Ali was addressing a gathering in Kamareddy as part of Congress party's nationwide 'Kishan Mazdoor Bachao Diwas' agitation on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi on Friday.

Shabbir Ali along with former MLAs Gangaram Janardhan Reddy, Kailasa Srinivas Rao, Madan Mohan Rao, V. Subhash Reddy, Congress ZPTCs, MPTCs, Sarpanches and other leaders paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue at Gandhi Ganj in Kamareddy.

Speaking on the occasion, Shabbir Ali said that the new agricultural laws of the Central government aimed at benefiting the corporator sector. He said that the farmers would not get MSP for their produce and the prices would be dictated by a few corporate companies. He alleged that the Modi government has removed the protective shield to farmers provided by the Constitution.

The Congress leader said that the Modi government appears so committed to the corporate sector that it got the Bills passed in Rajya Sabha while violating all rules and set precedents. It did not bother that one of its oldest allies Akali Dal quit the government in protest against the Bills. The objections raised by the opposition parties were neither answered nor entertained and the BJP government simply abused power to help a few corporate friends like Ambanis and Adanis.

The Congress leader said that the new agricultural laws have turned the future of crore of farmers dark and they would have a devastating effect on the lives of small and marginal farmers. The new laws would turn agriculture a profitable profession not for the farmers, but for a few private companies. Now the private sector has been empowered to hoard unlimited quantities of agriculture produce and sell it wherever they want. Consequently, this will lead to hoarding, black marketing and inflation. While farmers will suffer huge losses, the common people would be forced to buy essential commodities at higher prices.

Shabbir Ali also launched a signature campaign against the new agriculture laws and informed that the Congress party proposes to gather two crore signatures. He said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would han dover those signatures to President of India Ramnath Kovind on November 14.