Legal guarantee for MSP if INDIA bloc wins in LS polls: Rahul in Bihar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party will accept long-pending demands of farmers in the country and ensure a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) of crops if the INDIA bloc comes to power after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing the 'Kisan Nyay Panchayat', a gathering of farmers, in Bihar's Rohtas, as part of his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', Gandhi claimed that "cultivators are not getting the remunerative prices for their crops".

"If the INDIA bloc comes to power after the general elections, we will give a legal guarantee to MSP. Whenever farmers have asked for something from the Congress, it has been given to them. Be it loan waiver or MSP, we have always protected the interests of cultivators and will do so in future," Gandhi said.

His comment comes at a time when Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmers' body, called for 'Bharat Bandh' on Friday to press the BJP-led central government to accept cultivators' demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops.

Farmers from Punjab began their 'Delhi Chalo' march on Tuesday but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Delhi and Haryana.

The protesting farmers have been camping at the border points ever since. Their agitation entered the fourth day on Friday.

The Congress MP also slammed the BJP-led central government, accusing it of "transferring a considerable portion of funds of the defence budget into the pockets" of an industrialist.

The Centre's defence budget is not for the welfare of jawans and all defence contracts are going to a corporate group only," he alleged.

Gandhi also criticised the Centre for the 'Agniveer' scheme, saying, the Union government has "divided the army into two categories - Agniveer and regulars".

"If an Agniveer is injured or martyred, they will not receive adequate compensation. Why is this discrimination? Why have they created separate categories in the Army for Agniveer and others?" the Congress MP asked.

Earlier, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav joined Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'. which resumed from the party's district office in Sasaram this morning and is expected to enter Uttar Pradesh through Mohania in Kaimur district in the evening.

Yadav and Gandhi were seen sitting on the roof of a sports utility vehicle, which was slowly moving, and they waved at enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the main road of the town.

Locals queued up on both sides of the road and watched the procession. Earlier, Yadav was seen driving the SUV with Gandhi and other leaders on board.

Both leaders of the opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' will also address a public meeting in Kaimur around 3 pm on Friday.

The 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which started in Manipur on January 14, is scheduled to cover 6,713 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states, before culminating in Mumbai on March 20.