Farmers pleading for justice because Modi govt 'betrayed' them again and again: Kharge
New Delhi (PTI): Slamming the Centre, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said farmers are pleading for justice because the Modi government "betrayed them again and again", and asserted that the tillers' right to raise their voice should not be taken away from them.
Kharge asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why farmers have to come to Delhi's doorstep again and again for justice.
"Today, when you will be on a tour to Haryana and Rajasthan, I hope that you will definitely try to understand the struggle of the farmer who provides food to the nation. Farmers are pleading for justice because your government has betrayed them again and again," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The betrayal of not doubling farmers' income by 2022, the betrayal of not implementing Input Cost + 50% MSP as per the Swaminathan report, and the betrayal of forming a committee to give legal status to MSP but not acting on it," he said, slamming the Modi government.
Kharge claimed that there was neither adequate procurement nor was it being done at a fair price.
"On top of that, farmers are troubled by the acute shortage of DAP and fertilizers!" he said.
"You laid a net of barbed wire on the path of the farmers, again turned the Delhi border into a cantonment, tried to stop their peaceful march with tear gas. Before this, you fired rubber bullets at them and showered lathis on them," he said.
"Not only this, in Parliament, you (PM Modi) yourself made derogatory remarks on farmers calling them 'andolanjeevi' and 'parjeevi' and did not even consider it appropriate to observe two minutes of silence in memory of 750 martyred farmers," Kharge alleged.
"In this situation, no matter how many lies you and your Agriculture Minister tell, the farmers who provide food have understood that you are their staunch opponent. Don't take away the farmers' right to raise their voice, Don't do injustice to them!" he said.
Agitating farmers suspended their foot march to Delhi on Sunday after some of them sustained injuries in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel who thwarted yet another attempt by the protesters to cross the Punjab-Haryana border.
Farmer leaders said they would decide the next course of action on Monday.
After a group of 101 farmers resumed the foot march on Sunday afternoon, they were halted by a multilayered barricade set up by Haryana security personnel who surprised the protesters by offering them tea and biscuits and showering them with flower petals.
But the protesters claimed it was all a "drama" as the police soon lobbed teargas shells and used water jets to disperse them when they insisted on crossing the Shambhu border.
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No need for guv: DMK leader Kanimozhi
Chennai (PTI): Senior DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday reiterated her party’s opposition to the office of the governor amid uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu after a fractured election mandate.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Kanimozhi emphasised that the DMK’s demand for the abolition of the governor’s post remained unchanged, especially as questions arise over constitutional propriety during the current political transition.
"Our position that we do not need a governor at all is something the DMK has never changed at any point in time," she said.
When asked about the governor’s actions following the election results—particularly the delay in inviting the leading party to form the government—Kanimozhi pointed to what she described as the "inherent friction" between the office of the governor and the political interests of the state.
She said the current situation "raises a lot of questions" and requires introspection regarding constitutional procedures.
Kanimozhi described the election results as lacking a "clear mandate", which she identified as the primary reason for the prevailing political uncertainty in the state.
"What the people decide is supreme," she said, adding that while the mandate was not decisive, it must be respected.
The Thoothukudi MP attributed the ongoing delays and "many confusions" to the absence of a decisive majority for any single party.
She firmly dismissed rumours about the DMK potentially supporting the AIADMK from outside to help stabilise the government.
She described such reports as mere "speculation" and "rumours".
"We can’t be responding to every rumour," she said, declining to comment on the AIADMK’s claims regarding its numbers to form the government.
The political situation in Tamil Nadu remains fluid as stakeholders await the governor’s next constitutional step in an Assembly where no party has secured a clear majority.
The DMK and AIADMK—both of which suffered significant losses to the TVK—are reportedly exploring tactical manoeuvres to navigate the hung Assembly.
The TVK, with 108 seats and the support of Congress’s five MLAs, is still short of the majority mark. The DMK and AIADMK secured 59 and 47 seats, respectively.
