After 'taming' Jallikattu bulls in Madurai, Rahul finds ground in farm stir

A day after his ‘bullish’ take on jallikattu in Madurai, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party will not relent till the new farm laws are repealed. His remark came when he was leading a demonstration outside the Delhi LG’s residence in the capital city against the contentious legislations, accompanied by AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others.

Addressing the gathering, the former Congress chief said the Congress party will not step back till the time the government repeals these three farm laws. “These laws are not to help farmers, but to finish them. These laws are aimed at helping corporates like Ambani and Adani instead,” he charged. “That is why we are standing in favour of the farmers”.

“The BJP government will have to take these black laws back. Till the time these laws are repealed, Congress party will not relent,” he told the protesting workers of the party which is taking out protest marches in all state capitals in India and will gherao Raj Bhawans.

“The Narendra Modi government earlier tried to take away the land of farmers, when it brought the land acquisition Act and the Congress party stopped them at that time. Now the BJP and their two-three friends are once again attacking the farmers and have brought these three farm laws,” he also alleged.

Related news | Rahul Gandhi finds jallikattu ‘bullish’, calls it a ‘lovely experience’

The Congress is observing the day as Kisan Adhikar Divas in support of the farmers’ rights.
The protests come on a day the government is holding the next round of talks with leaders of farm unions to end the deadlock over their protest. Besides, the party is also protesting against fuel price hike.

A day earlier, on the occasion of Pongal, Mr. Gandhi visited Madurai in Tamil Nadu where he was a spectator at the ‘jallikattu’ event at Avaniyapuram. He called it a “lovely experience”, drawing accusations of double standard as the party had sought a ban on the bull-taming event ahead of the assembly elections in 2016.

After witnessing the bull-taming sport, Gandhi said it is “quite a lovely experience to see Tamil culture, history in action” and stressed he had come to watch the event to give out a strong message. “I have come here to give a message to those who think that they can run roughshod over Tamil people, can push aside Tamil language and Tamil culture.”

(With inputs from agencies)