BJP readies outreach programme to counter opposition's narrative over farm laws
17-February-2021

The Bharatiya Jana Party (BJP) has chalked out a strategy to dispel the misconceptions over the farm laws. The saffron party has asked the leaders to reach out to the masses, especially farmers on three farm laws.

On Tuesday, BJP president JP Nadda chaired a meeting which was attended by Union ministers Amit Shah, Narendra Singh Tomar and leaders from all ranks from states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. BJP MPs from the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh -- Sanjeev Balyan and Satyapal Singh also attended the meeting. Balyan is a Lok Sabha MP from Muzaffarnagar while Singh represents the Bagpat constituency.

The meeting went on for almost two and a half hours. MPs, MLAs and district level presidents were present in the meeting, sources said.

READ MORE: 'Give farm reforms a chance, open to changes': PM Modi appeals farmers to end agitation

The party bigwigs told leaders to become proactive in their constituencies and interact with people especially farmers at the panchayat level. They were asked to brief the farmers about the benefits of farm laws.

The leaders were also asked to tell farmers about the Modi government's schemes and benefit extended in the last six years.

Shah told leaders to expose the forces behind the farmers' agitation against the new agri reforms. He said that it is necessary to counter the negative campaign else it could affect outcomes on 40 seats in Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in 2022.

Shah told leaders that it was clear that the farmers' agitation was being exploited by political parties and asked the leaders to remain in touch with all khaps, panchayats and community leaders to explain the government's position.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi's borders for over two months demanding rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmers are opposing the laws, terming them against their interests as it will dismantle the mandi system and the MSP structure. Besides, they believe that the laws will give power to corporates over their lands.

However, the three laws -- enacted in September 2020, have been projected by the Central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. The government has repeatedly assured the farmers that these three laws will not do away with MSP and mandis.