Centre preparing to implement revoked farm laws through backdoor: AAP chief Kejriwal

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the BJP would be responsible "if something happens" to the protesting farmers in Punjab who are on an indefinite fast over a set of demands, including a legal guarantee on MSP.

Kejriwal, in a post on X, also claimed that the Centre is preparing to implement the now-revoked three farm laws "through the backdoor" by calling it a "policy". He said copies of the new "policy" have been sent to all states for their views on it.

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast for over a month and has refused medical aid.

The AAP-led Punjab government has termed the newly announced draft policy on ‘National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing’ as an attempt to backdoor entry to the three central agri laws passed in 2020. After a yearlong protest by farmers, the Centre repealed the laws.

Kejriwal posted on X that while the farmers were on a fast unto death in Punjab, the BJP, due to its arrogance, was not talking to them. The AAP supremo charged that the BJP-led Centre accepted farmers' demands three years ago but is now reneged on it.

"Why do the BJP have such arrogance that it does not even talk to anyone," Kejriwal asked.

"May God keep the farmers who are on an indefinite protest safe, but if something happens to them, the BJP will be responsible for it," he said in a long post in Hindi.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, when asked about holding talks with the protesting farmers to end the logjam, said on Wednesday that the government will act as per instructions by the Supreme Court on the ongoing farmers' protest at the Punjab-Haryana border.

The Supreme Court is hearing a matter against the AAP-led Punjab government for not complying with directions to hospitalise farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

On Thursday, the apex court pulled up the Punjab government and said its officials and some farmer leaders are creating a false impression in media that attempts are being made to break farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal's fast.

Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh denied any such attempt to complicate the situation and said efforts are being made to persuade Dallewal to take medical aid without breaking his fast.

Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast at the Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press the Centre into accepting the agitating farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) on crops.

Farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.