‘Under BJP, laws are made and unmade without Cabinet approval,’ alleges Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram alleged on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement about the repealing of the three farm laws without holding a Cabinet meeting.

“It is only under the BJP that laws are made and unmade without prior Cabinet approval,” Chidambaram remarked on Twitter.

The Congress leader made the statement a day after the prime minister announced that the Union government will repeal the three agriculture laws in the Winter Session of Parliament.

Chidambaram on Saturday criticised Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who praised the prime minister after the announcement.

“Where were these worthy leaders and their wise advice in the last 15 months?,” he asked.

On Friday, Chidambaram had claimed that Modi’s announcement about the repeal of the three laws was motivated by a fear of impending elections, rather than a change of heart. He, however, described it as a “great victory” for the farmers and the Congress party.

“What cannot be achieved by democratic protests can be achieved by the fear of impending elections,” he had said.

The prime minister’s announcement on Friday came ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh that are scheduled for early next year. Farmers from the two states have been at the forefront of the farmers’ agitation against the laws.

Farmers’ protest

The three laws that will be repealed are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers had expressed fears that the central government’s new laws would make them vulnerable to corporate exploitation and would dismantle the minimum support price regime.

The Centre, however, had claimed that the laws would give farmers more access to markets and boost production through private investment.