Revoke suspension of 5 Cong MLAs or face stir, says Kuldeep Rathore

Tribune News Service

Solan,March 2

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Rathore on Tuesday threatened to launch an agitation if the suspension of five Congress MLAs was not revoked in the Vidhan Sabha.

He said these MLAs were merely trying to pose some questions before the Governor, but they were first pushed and then suspended from the House, which was unfair.

Addressing a farmers’ rally at Baddi, he alleged that the Union Government had failed to safeguard the interests of growers.

He added that the violence during the tractor parade in New Delhi on January 26 was a ploy to defame the farmers’ movement. He said the Congress would firmly stand with the agrarian community till the three farm laws were repealed.

Rathore said if the laws were implemented, corporate houses would first buy agrarian produce at higher cost, leading to the closure of mandis, and then exploit farmers by offering lower prices.

AICC Adivasi Cell vice-president Bellaiah Naik alleged that, “Apart from exploiting the poor, the Union Government has done nothing. It is only concerned about corporate houses.”

Former Cabinet minister Thakur Sing Bharmouri also lashed out at the Centre. Former Doon MLA Ramkumar Chawdhary said all development works had come to a standstill in his segment and only works initiated by him during the Congress tenure were being inaugurated. He alleged that industrial workers were made to attend the Chief Minister’s rally on Saturday as the general public stayed away. District party in-charge Kewal Singh Pathania also addressed the gathering.