Cong acting as lobbyist for anti-farmer forces: Himachal Minister

Shimla, Oct 22 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj on Thursday lashed out at the Congress for misleading farmers on the farm laws and alleged that the party was acting as a lobbyist for anti-farmer forces.He said the farm laws would revolutionise the agriculture sector in the coming times."The Congress is misleading the farmers. It is playing in the hands of a handful of people who had earlier been exploiting the agrarian community," said Bhardwaj in a statement here.The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government has been working towards doubling the farmers' income and has also initiated several schemes and programs."After realising the need for these laws to make agriculture schemes and policies a success, the government took the call. But Congress could not digest it. It seems the Congress party does not want farmers to come out of the shackles of a fragmented system," he said.Bhardwaj said those opposing these laws are not the well-wishers of farmers but acting at the behest of middlemen.Further explaining about the farm laws, the minister said the APMCs and the marketing board will continue to function as usual.
--IANS vg/dpb