Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today targeted Congress over party chief Sonia Gandhi’s advice to party-ruled states to bypass the farm laws brought by Centre through legislative measures and said that the opposition party in its 2019 Lok Sabha manifesto had promised the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act will be repealed.
Congress had promised to make trade in agricultural produce, including exports and inter-state trade, free from all restrictions, Ms Sitharaman said in tweets.
She asked if Congress had made false promise during the Lok Sabha 2019 elections or is provoking people now by asking states to bypass the central legislation.
Sitharaman said: “From Section 7 page 9 of the INC India Lok Sabha 2019 manifesto: Congress will repeal the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act and make trade in agricultural produce – including exports and inter-state trade free from all restrictions.”
“Did INC India give a false promise during the Lok Sabha 2019 elections or are they provoking people now by asking states to bypass the central legislation? Wonder who advises their President?” she asked.
On Monday, Sonia Gandhi advised the Congress-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass laws in their respective states under Article 254(2) of the Constitution, which allows state legislatures to pass a law, to negate the anti-agriculture central laws encroaching upon state’s jurisdiction under the constitution.
