The Opposition has asked the Narendra Modi government to immediately convene a Parliament session and pass a new law to protect the interest of farmers and introduce effective agricultural reforms instead of misleading the nation and creating confusion in the minds of people by selective leaks and false narratives.

While former agriculture minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar, whose letter to chief ministers on reforms in the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act was cited by the government to accuse the Opposition of hypocrisy, dismissed the ploy as a diversionary tactic, the Congress said the three new laws had nothing to do with reforms.

A farmer protests near the Ghazipur border on Tuesday Prem Singh

An Opposition delegation will call on President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday evening to formally convey their stance on the issues involved.

Pawar has called a meeting of senior Opposition leaders on Wednesday to discuss the evolving situation before a small delegation consisting of the NCP veteran himself, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D. Raja and DMK’s T.K.S. Elangovan meets the President.

A farmer protests at the Ghazipur border during the Bharat Bandh on Tuesday PTI

Emboldened by the success of the Bharat Bandh on Tuesday, the Opposition parties are expected to firm up their position and draw up their own plan of action.

Pawar responded to the government’s diatribe on Tuesday, saying: “I had said that the APMC (Act) needs some reforms. The APMC Act should continue but with reforms. There is no doubt that I had written the letter. But their (Modi government’s) three acts do not even mention the APMC. They are just trying to divert attention. There is no need to give importance.”

Trucks parked at Azadpur vegetable market in New Delhi on Tuesday during the nationwide strike PTI

The NCP, which fully backed the farmers’ movement and participated in the Bharat Bandh in Maharashtra on Tuesday, said that Pawar’s call for reforms did not mean facilitating a corporate takeover to the detriment of farmers.

Former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda told a media conference in Delhi on Tuesday: “These farm laws do not reflect reforms. They did not discuss these laws with anybody, not even farmers’ unions. Let them withdraw these laws and call a Parliament session to discuss what kind of reforms are needed to help the farmers. These three laws are interlinked and together pose a grave danger to farmers’ survival.”

The deserted APMC market in Mumbai on Tuesday PTI

Arguing that the government was promoting corporate houses on the lines of America, Hooda said: “The economy in India rests on agriculture. Many other sectors are linked. Agriculture generates maximum employment…. The new laws will create two markets. One under the APMC where taxes, market fees and MSP will be applicable and the other outside which will be free, unregulated. The new laws allow even hoarding. That will allow big corporate players to control the system and manipulate pricing.”

Explaining that the corporate players won’t honour the MSP without a legal compulsion, the former chief minister said the MSP was guaranteed earlier even under contract farming. Explaining that the Congress reforms meant opening more procurement centres, he said agro malls had been opened by his government in Haryana to facilitate the sale of produce by farmers, not to help the corporate groups.

Police uses water cannons to stop the protesting farmers in Chandigarh on Tuesday PTI

The Congress deployed all its strength on Tuesday to help make the Bharat Bandh successful. While it had a big impact in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, demonstrations were held in most other states.

Rahul, who has adopted an uncompromising position on these three laws brought by the Modi government, describing them as a trap that will enslave India’s poor, again tweeted on Tuesday morning: “Modi ji, stop stealing from farmers. Citizens know today is Bharat Bandh. They will support it to make the struggle of farmers successful.”

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said “this battle is between those who fill your ‘thali’ (plate) and those who fill the ‘thaili’ (bags) of billionaires”.