TN BJP chief Annamalai questions CM Stalin on resolution against farm laws

BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai on Sunday questioned Chief Minister M.K. Stalin over the adoption in the Assembly of a special resolution that called for the repeal of the farm laws.

In a statement, he said the DMK and its allies had not stated which parts of the laws had affected the farmers. “The parts affecting the farmers should have been debated in the House and an amendment sought. Opposing the laws in their entirety amounts to betrayal of farmers.” The resolution that went through on Saturday was eyewash, similar to what was done in the States under Congress rule, he said.

While the Chief Minister had said the resolution was adopted to fulfil the DMK’s election promise, what had happened to the party’s promise to get NEET cancelled, Mr. Annamalai asked. “You have not got exemption from NEET, and only students have suffered by trusting your promise.”

The BJP president pointed out that the DMK’s manifesto for the 2016 election had promised a new policy for the sale of farm produce and the elimination of middlemen and its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election had vowed to implement the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee’s recommendations. “What you stated in the manifestos is getting fulfilled through the farm laws. Why are you opposing it? This shows you want to blindly oppose [the policies of] Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.