Rahul Gandhi in Rajasthan: Modi govt not allowing us to speak on farmers in Parliament
New Delhi July 19, 2017 4:31 pm
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly not letting his party raise the concerns of farmers inside Parliament. While addressing a farmers’ rally at Banswara in Rajasthan, Gandhi said: “Today, we wanted to raise farmers’ issues in Lok Sabha. PM Modi was present and other Ministers were also present. We were not allowed to speak on it.”
He added that “while Parliament was opened in the midnight for the launch of GST (Goods and Services Tax), we are not given even a minute to raise farmers’ issues”.
Gandhi said it was after the Congress waived off farmers’ loans in Punjab and Karnataka, a scared BJP followed suit in Uttar Pradesh. “Like UP, the Congress will pressurise the BJP to take a similar step for the farmers of Rajasthan,” he said.
Speaking on the GST, the Congress vice-president said PM Modi had unleashed the entire tax department on the people of the country. “We had suggested the government to not pass GST in a hurry, but they did not listen,” he said. “Big traders have no issues with this GST, they can employ 10 accountants and fill as many forms as required. It is the small traders who suffer.”
Gandhi said that during his election campaign in 2014, PM Modi had promised to help farmers but he is yet to do so.
The Congress leader is also scheduled to hold rallies in other BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. BJP chief Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit the state later this week.
BJP national president Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit the state later this week.(Agencies)
