Congress backs farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march to Parliament, calls for pro-farmer reforms

New Delhi [India], December 6 (ANI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a show of solidarity with protesting farmers, announced the party's unequivocal support for their ongoing march to the Parliament on Friday.
Speaking on the issue, Ramesh highlighted that the protest had gained momentum after securing backing from the Vice President and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Taking to his official handle on X, Jairam Ramesh posted, "Farmers are marching to Parliament today. Their protest has received a huge booster dose after getting support from the Vice President and the Honourable Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Farmers and their organizations are continuously agitating."
The Congress leader reiterated the farmers demands for: legal guarantee for MSP and fixing MSP at 1.5 times the comprehensive cost of cultivation as per the recommendations of MS Swaminathan Commission.
Ramesh highlighted the need for restructuring the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and called for an independent agency to oversee agricultural trade policies.
Jairam Ramesh in his post said, "Just as banks waived off Rs 16 lakh crore of loans of defaulting private companies, farmers should get relief from lump sum loans in the same way."
He said that decisions on import and export of agricultural commodities should be taken by an independent agency in which farmers are adequately represented.
"The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which benefits insurance companies, should now be restructured to meet the interests and concerns of farmers," said his post.
"The Indian National Congress fully supports these demands and others raised by farmer organizations," Ramesh stated, urging the government to engage with farmers and address their grievances promptly.
Earlier in the day, a large contingent of farmers gathered at the Shambhu border from where they proposed to march towards Delhi later.
Drone visuals from the site showed large groups of farmers converging at the border.
At the Shambhu border, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that there would be a group of 100 farmers who would be marching towards Delhi peacefully and have no intention of breaking the barricades present.
Speaking to ANI, Pandher said "The central and state governments had told the Supreme Court that they had a problem with farmers moving towards Delhi on tractors. A group of 100 farmers will move towards Delhi peacefully. We have no intention of breaking the barricades. We hope that the government allows us to move towards Delhi and protest peacefully. The doors for talk are open from the farmers side. We have been saying that if the government wants to talk, then they show us the letter of the the central government or the CM's office of Haryana or Punjab."
A protestor complained that the promises made to them were not fulfilled and questioned on why the government was stopping them at the borders.
"We are here on a protest and will be going till Delhi. The government can do anything they want. None of the promises made to us are being fulfilled. We are Indians too, and most importantly farmers. Why are they stopping us at the borders. Why cant they let us protest peacefully? The BJP government, the central government are not listening to us," questioned the protestor.
Sukhwinder Kaur, another protestor said that the protest would continue and taking in consideration the request made by the Haryana government, they decided to carry the protest on foot.
Talking about the demands of the farmers, she stated that the main demand was that of the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
"We have 12 demands and our main demand is that of the MSP. The Punjab government said they would do it but even after waiting for one month, they didn't and we protested against it. We are ready to talk to them but they have not asked us anything. We are not begging, we are just asking something for what we do. Where are we at fault?" she added.
The protest, led by the Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (BKP) in collaboration with other farmer organisations, seeks compensation and benefits linked to agricultural reforms, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Visuals also emerged showing police barricades on the Shambhu border. Traffic police personnel were deployed at the spot to handle the situation. (ANI)