Congress to press for repealing 3 farm laws on Day 1 of Winter Session

The Congress on Thursday decided it will press for repealing the three farm laws on the very first day of the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament besides seeking Rs 4 lakh compensation for the families of those who died of COVID-19.

The decision was taken at a meeting of top party leaders which was chaired by Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Congress' strategy for the upcoming session that will start on November 29.

The Union Cabinet has already approved a bill to repeal the three farm laws following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on November 19. It will be introduced in Lok Sabha during the Winter Session.

The Congress' meeting was held at Sonia Gandhi's residence, 10 Janpath, in Delhi with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and deputy leader Anand Sharma, besides chief whip in the upper house Jairam Ramesh among others in attendance.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh, and whips Manickam Tagore and Ravneet Singh Bittu attended the meet. Senior leader A K Antony and AICC general secretary organisation K C Venugopal were also present.

Sources said the Congress leadership decided to seek for the repeal of the farm laws on the first day of the session itself.

"We want the repeal of the three farm laws on the first day of the session. We will also demand a separate law for minimum support price," a senior leader told PTI.

Party leaders said they would reach out to other opposition parties to press for their demands, which include the resignations of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra 'Teni' whose son has been arrested in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which some farmers were mowed down by a vehicle.

The Congress leadership also decided to raise the issue of price rise and will press for the demand for seeking Rs 4 lakh compensation for all victims of COVID-19.