Bharat Bandh: Rahul Gandhi voices support for farmers, slams govt as 'exploitative'
New Delhi (PTI): Expressing support for protesting farmers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the farmers' non-violent 'satyagraha' is still resolute but the "exploitative" government does not like this and that is why a 'Bharat Bandh' has been called.
The Congress has asked its workers, state unit chiefs and heads of frontal organisations to take part in the 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmer unions to protest against the Centre's three agri laws.
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
Posting rhyming lines in Hindi on Twitter, Gandhi said, "Kisano ka ahimsak satyagraha aaj bhi akhand hai, lekin shoshankar sarkar ko ye nahi pasand hai, isliye aaj Bharat Bandh hai (Farmers' non-violent satyagraha is resolute even today, but the exploitative government does not like this and that's why it is Bharat Bandh today)."
Gandhi used the hashtag 'IStandWithFarmers' with his tweet. The SKM on Sunday had appealed for complete peace during the Bandh and urged all Indians to join the strike.
The government and farmer unions have held 11 rounds of talks so far, the last being on January 22, to break the deadlock and end the farmers' protest.
Talks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.
The three laws -- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 -- were passed by Parliament in September last year.
Farmer groups have alleged that these laws will end the 'mandi' and the MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced and asserted that these steps will help increase farmers' income.
किसानों का अहिंसक सत्याग्रह आज भी अखंड है
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 27, 2021
लेकिन शोषण-कार सरकार को ये नहीं पसंद है
इसलिए #आज_भारत_बंद_है #IStandWithFarmers
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
