Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday congratulated farmers for their relentless fight against three farm laws and said they were not fazed by the “cruelty” of the BJP.

Banerjee’s comment came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

“My heartfelt congratulations to every single farmer who fought relentlessly and were not fazed by the cruelty with which @BJP4India treated you. This is YOUR VICTORY! My deepest condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones in this fight. #FarmLaws,” Banerjee tweeted.

New Delhi: The country’s ‘annadatas’ have made “arrogance bow its head” through ‘satyagraha’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday and described the Centre’s decision to repeal the farm laws as a “victory against injustice”.

His remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation this morning, announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

“Country’s ‘annadatas’ (food providers)

have made arrogance bow its head through satyagraha,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“Congratulations on this victory against injustice!” the former Congress chief said.

“‘Jai Hind, Jai Hind ka Kisan’,” he added.

Many farmers had been protesting and were encamped at Delhi’s borders since November 2020 with a demand that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops.

The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the farmers, had maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claimed they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.

He also stressed that the government should talk to farmers over the issue of minimum support price (MSP) of crops and other matters.

The BKU national spokesperson said this on Twitter soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced repealing the three farm laws, which were at the centre of the farmers’ protest since November 26 last year.

“The protest will not be withdrawn immediately, we will wait for the day when the farm laws are repealed in Parliament. Along with MSP, the government should talk to farmers on other issues too,” Tikait tweeted in Hindi.

Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the prime minister said the three farm laws were for the benefit of farmers but “we couldn’t convince a section of farmers despite best efforts”.

The goal of the three farm laws was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, he said.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the prime minister said the three laws were for the benefit of farmers but “we couldn’t convince a section of farmers despite best efforts”.

The goal of the three farm laws was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, he said.

The agriculture budget has risen by five times with over Rs 1.25 lakh crore being spent annually, Modi said.

He also highlighted his govt’s measures to benefit small farmers.

“I have experienced farmers’ difficulties, challenges from very close quarters in my five decades of public life,” the prime minister said.

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the prime minister said the three laws were for the benefit of farmers but “we couldn’t convince a section of farmers despite best efforts”.

The goal of the three farm laws was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, he said.

The agriculture budget has risen by five times with over Rs 1.25 lakh crore being spent annually, Modi said.

He also highlighted his govt’s measures to benefit small farmers.

“I have experienced farmers’ difficulties, challenges from very close quarters in my five decades of public life,” the prime minister said.

Gadchiroli: Naxal activities are not limited to only remote areas of eastern Maharashtra but ‘urban naxalization’ is being seen in big cities of the state, NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Thursday.

He was speaking to reporters in Gadchiroli district of the state where at least 27 naxals including senior Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde were killed in an encounter with police last Saturday.

Talking about the naxal menace in the district, which borders on Chhattisgarh, Pawar said the situation was improving.

But there is this “new phenomenon” where some elements are trying to create hatred against the government in other parts of the state too, he said.

“We can call this urban naxalisation,” Pawar said.

“Some such forces are active in Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai and in parts of the Sahyadri ranges, as far as Kerala. There is a section which is trying to create public opinion and hatred against the government,” he said.

Pawar’s party is part of the government in Maharashtra and its minister holds the home portfolio.

“Special caution should be taken about this aspect immediately, otherwise new problems would emerge,” the NCP chief, who was Maharashtra chief minister four times, warned.

Notably, BJP leaders have often used the term “urban naxals” to claim that Maoists have hidden supporters and sympathizers in urban areas.

Pawar, meanwhile, advocated a push to industrial development through mining in Surjagarh in Gadchiroli.

Protests had been staged by locals against mining in the area recently.

To a question about fear that mining will take away local tribals’ livelihood from natural resources, Pawar said farming should be improved to provide new job opportunities.

“I feel that to remove the frustration of the young generation here, they should get job opportunities. Surjagarh will give them this right and opportunity in a big way and an important and permanent industry will develop here,” he added.

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Thursday levelled fresh allegations against Naroctics Control Bureau’s (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, saying the officer wrongly framed the cousin of his former wife in a drugs case to pressure her family not to speak against him.

Talking to reporters here, NCP leader Malik said Wankhede also framed another youth, the son of an IPS officer, in a drugs case following a dispute with the latter’s family and the youth was subsequently arrested.

Malik also strongly backed former Maharashtra home minister and party colleague Anil Deshmukh, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, saying he was being “framed” by misusing central agencies.

On Wednesday, NCP president Sharad Pawar also said injustice was being done to Deshmukh, who is currently in judicial custody.

Malik on Thursday continued his tirade against Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, who is married to actress Kranti Redkar since 2017. The NCB officer divorced his first wife Shabana Qureshi in 2016.

Wankhede thought his first wife will speak against him. So, through a peddler, Wankhede planted drugs and got her cousin arrested through the Anti-Narcotics Cell of the state police,” the minister alleged.

His first wife’s family was threatened that if they spoke against Wankhede, the entire family will be dubbed as drug peddlers and arrested, he further charged.

Malik has been attacking Wankhede following the NCB’s raid on a cruise party last month following which around 20 people, including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, were arrested. Aryan Khan and some of the other accused were later released on bail.

The minister has also accused Wankhede of wrongly framing people in drugs cases, and securing government job by forging his documents.

Wankhede’s father recently filed a defamation case against Malik.

On Wednesday, Malik sought the Bombay High Court’s permission to file an additional affidavit with documents to prove his allegations about Wankhede’s caste certificate, saying he wanted to submit the latter’s school admission forms and his primary school leaving certificate.

These documents mention Wankhede’s religion as Muslim, he alleged.

The minister had earlier alleged that the NCB officer was born a Muslim, but secured a central government job claiming to belong to a scheduled caste.

Wankhede has denied the allegations levelled against him.