“Will March To Delhi,” Say Farmers After Meeting Rahul Gandhi At Parliament

Sources said the farmer leaders have asked Rahul Gandhi to introduce a private member’s bill to fulfill a long-standing demand – recalculation of MSP.
New Delhi: Farmers pushing the government to revamp the MSP, or minimum support price, policy met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi inside the Parliament complex Wednesday morning.
Mr Gandhi, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, met a delegation of 12 farmer leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
Senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Deepender Singh Hooda were also part of the meeting, as were MPs Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
There was confusion before the meeting as the farmers were not allowed inside. “We invited them… but they are not allowing them inside Parliament. They are farmers, maybe this is why…” Mr Gandhi said.
“…you will have to ask the Prime Minister the reason for this…”
“Rahul Gandhi will raise the voice of farmers inside Parliament…” Mr Warring told NDTV after the meeting. On reports the farmers are planning another march on Delhi, he said, “They have all rights to come to Delhi and protest (and) if a private member’s bill is required then we will bring that too.”
One of the farmers, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, said the government had failed, so far, to fulfill assurances. “Swaminathan report implementation is a must. We will continue march towards Delhi…” he told
Earlier, sources said the farmers spoke to Mr Gandhi about issues in their respective states, and also asked him to introduce a private member’s bill to fulfill long-standing demands – to revise MSP and ensure legal backing. These demands have been at the core of their protests since it began in 2020.
Farmer unions across the country want the MSP – a purchase guarantee set by the government to protect agriculturists from steep fall in crop prices – to be based on the Swaminathan Commission’s C2+50 formula, which factors in cost of capital and land rent when calculating support prices.