Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that repealing the three farm laws without a debate in Parliament shows that the government is "terrified" and knows that it has done something wrong.
It is better "to shut" Parliament if discussions are not allowed, he said, alleging there are "certain forces sitting behind the prime minister" that are inimical to the future of this country and need to be identified.
He credited the farmers for the repeal of the three farm laws saying it is their and the country's victory and that it has shown that the power of "3-4 crony capitalists" cannot withstand the strength of farmers and labourers.
After Parliament passed 'The Farm Laws Repeal Bill' to rescind the three contentious agri laws against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, Gandhi told reporters his party had predicted that the government will have to take back the farm laws.
"We had mentioned earlier that the farm laws would have to be withdrawn and we had said it because we understood that the might of three or four large crony capitalists cannot stand against the might of Indian farmers and Indian labourers and that has come true," he told reporters at Vijay chowk.
"What is unfortunate is, how the bills have been repealed without any discussion, without any conversation. We wanted to have a conversation about the forces behind these bills because these bills do not just reflect the view of the prime minister, these bills reflect the power behind the prime minister, the power of people and the forces behind the prime minister.
"This is what is we wanted to discuss, who actually is behind these bills? What are the forces that are behind these three bills," he asked.
The former Congress chief said they wanted to discuss the issue of MSP, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and "about the 700 farmers who died in this agitation, but unfortunately that discussion was not allowed".
"This is a reflection of the fact that the government is terrified of having this discussion. The government wants to hide. The government does not have the guts to stand up for its action and this is quite unfortunate," he noted.
He asked what is the point of having Parliament if discussions are not allowed.
"What is the need for having Parliament, it is better to shut it in that case and the prime minister can bring any laws and there is no use of Parliament," he said.
"Not allowed a discussion on the MSP, on justice for the martyr 'Annadatas', on the dismissal of Union Minister in the Lakhimpur case...The government that snatched the right to hold a discussion in Parliament is a failure and a cowardly government," Gandhi also tweeted in Hindi.
Asked whether the decision to repeal the laws after a year of agitation was due to political reasons, he said, "Of course, the idea that UP elections are near that must have played something in their mind."
Gandhi claimed the prime minister's "apology" shows he has accepted that "700 farmers have lost their lives due to his mistake and thus he will have to give them compensation".
On whether he still doubted the intention of the government, he said, "The intention is bad. The prime minister is an instrument and a tool in the hands of these forces."
"This is not an isolated event. This is the thing to understand...this entire instrument is captured by the same forces that are pushing the farm bills, who carried out demonetisation and it is the same forces that put a flawed GST and did not give any money to the poor people during the COVID.
"So the question is not whether the government is going to try to pass these farm laws again, the question is that the government is captured by a group, by an interest that is against the poor people of this country. They will do whatever that can be done to damage the future of the poor people of the country," he alleged.
Gandhi also said that the Congress was standing fully in support of farmers.
"Why is the prime minister apologising, for what? If they have done nothing against the farmers, why he is apologising? And on whose behalf is he apologising," he asked.
The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was passed by Parliament with a rushed voice vote in both Houses even as the opposition protested demanding a discussion.
