Opposition leaders say Centre decided to repeal farm laws with eye on upcoming Assembly polls

New Delhi [India], November 19 : Several opposition leaders feel there were political motives behind the central government's decision to repeal the three contentious farm laws.
Many political parties hailed the decision of the government but alleged that the BJP feared losing the 2022 Assembly polls scheduled in five states including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Among these states, farmers from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were protesting across Delhi's borders for the past one year.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram said that the decision of the Centre to repeal the farm laws is "not due to a change in the policy or heart but by the fear of impending elections."
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also claimed the Centre is eyeing upcoming elections and questioned the Centre for being silent when farmers were called as 'Aandolanjeevi', goons, terrorists and traitors.
Like many other Opposition party leaders, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury also said that the decision has been taken in view of the upcoming Assembly polls.
Slamming the Centre, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal remarked that the lives of 700 farmers could have been saved, had the farm laws been repealed earlier, while Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia urged the government to apologize to the families of farmers who lost their lives in the protest.
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil echoed a similar opinion and said that if this decision was taken earlier, the lives of many farmers would have been spared.
The farm laws had provoked massive protests that began in Punjab and spread to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
On occasions, the protests witnessed violent face-offs with police and periodic protests from Opposition leaders. Farmer unions sat on Delhi borders demanding scrapping the laws since November 26, 2020. Several rounds of discussions with the government were also held but no significant development was made.
Meanwhile, the government stood firm on its stand saying that the government was unable to convince a section of the farmers of the benefits of the farm laws.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that Prime Minister's intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers but the government failed to explain the benefits of the central farm laws to some farmers of the nation.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tried to bring changes in agriculture with these reforms. But due to some situations, some farmers objected. When we took path of discussions and tried to explain to them, we could not succeed," he told ANI.
Farmers have been protesting to press their long-pending demands of repealing the following farm laws: The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
The significant part of the announcement of repeal of farm laws is its timing. The Prime Minister gave a televised speech on the day of Gurparb, which is celebrated with much fervour amongst Sikhs in Punjab and other places.
Recently, the government also opened the Kartarpur corridor which allowed the people to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
The political situation in Punjab is fluid with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announcing new party and indicating willingness to join hands with BJP if a decision is taken to end protest by farmers on farm laws.
Notably, efforts are also being made to garner maximum votes from Uttar Pradesh.
BJP national president JP Nadda on Thursday held a meeting in the national capital regarding the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.