NEW DELHI – Police in Indian capital Thursday stopped opposition Congress party’s march to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and detained Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders, reports in local media said.
The leaders apart from presenting 20 million signatures to the president against the farm laws were going to present him memorandum seeking his intervention for the withdrawal of the contentious laws against which thousands of farmers are presently protesting in and outside national capital New Delhi for nearly a month.
The delegation of Congress leaders including, Smt. @priyankagandhi, MPs, CWC members & senior party leaders have been detained by the Delhi police on their way to Rashtrapati Bhavan. #CongressMarchForFarmers pic.twitter.com/jC2kmo4pP9
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 24, 2020
However, only three leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were later permitted to meet President Kovind.
“I told the president that these farm laws are anti-farmer. The country has seen that farmers have stood up against these laws,” Rahul Gandhi said after the meeting.
India is now an imaginary democracy. pic.twitter.com/4WZJiJ9Xel
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 24, 2020
Rahul Gandhi said the government should convene a joint session of parliament and take back these laws.
“I want to tell the prime minister that these farmers are not going to go back home until these farm laws are repealed. The government should convene a joint session of parliament and take back these laws. Opposition parties stand with farmers and labourers,” he said.
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Several rounds of talks between the government and protesting farmers have failed to end the deadlock.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been strongly defending the three laws and accused the opposition parties of misleading the farmers.
Thursday marks the twentieth-nine straight day of the protests.
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