‘PM Smiled When Tikait Wept’: Priyanka Gandhi in Muzaffarnagar

Addressing the ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Baghra, Gandhi said she won’t ever betray the farmers.

Keeping up the attack on the Narendra Modi government over farm laws, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday, 20 February, said that the Prime Minister smiled when farmer’s union leader Rakesh Tikat wept in front of the media.

(Photo: The Quint)

Keeping up the attack on the Narendra Modi government over farm laws, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday, 20 February, said that the Prime Minister smiled when farmer’s union leader Rakesh Tikat wept in front of the media.

Addressing the ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Muzaffarnagar’s Baghra, Gandhi said that she won’t betray the farmers like PM Modi did.

“Just like humans, a country has a heart. Country lives when that heart beats. I believe our country’s heart is farmers, who are related to land – reaping and sowing in the land. They are the providers,” Gandhi said, as quoted by ANI.

(Photo: The Quint)

Gandhi said that PM Modi was behaving like an arrogant king when it came to the issue of the withdrawal of farm laws.

Slamming the rising fuel and LPG prices in the country, she said, “In 2018, diesel was priced at Rs 60/litre and today it is Rs 80-90/litre. Electricity rates and prices of gas cylinder are increasing but you are not even getting fair price of sugarcane,” according to ANI.

With thousands in attendance, the Mahapanchayat is among the series of such gatherings that Priyanka Gandhi has been addressing over the past few weeks, as the Congress party tries to make inroads in western Uttar Pradesh.

According to IANS, the Congress has divided the 27 districts of the state into three zones.

Ajay Lallu, Aradhna Mishra Mona and Deepak Singh have reportedly been assigned the responsibility to galvanise support in these districts, while the party also plans to rope in leaders like Hardik Patel from Gujarat and Navjot Singh Sidhu from Punjab.

Gandhi also addressed a farmers’ panchayat in Bijnore on 15 February.

Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a series of pro-farmer meetings in the state to clear the misconceptions regarding the farm laws and counter the Congress’ plans, IANS reported.

(With inputs from ANI and IANS.)