Rahul Gandhi tweeted on the centre's move to cancel three farm laws
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is among several leaders who tweeted minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the three farm laws introduced last year will be cancelled.
The announcement on Guru Nanak Jayanti was greeted with much praise in Punjab and Haryana, whose farmers have been protesting against the three farm laws introduced amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Gandhi, whose party is a fierce critic of the farm laws brought under controversial circumstances, appeared to lose no time in taking a swipe at PM Modi over the announcement to cancel the farm laws.
"The country's farmers have defeated arrogance with their satyagraha. Jai Hindi, Jai Hindi's farmers," Mr Gandhi tweeted, along with an old tweet from January this year where he said, "Mark my words, the government will have to take back the anti-farm laws."
Other leaders of opposition parties in the central level also tweeted to congratulate farmers - and take a swipe at the Modi government.
"Arrogance loses. From hubris to on your knees," Trinamool Congress MP Derek O-Brien tweeted, without naming anyone. His party, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is another vocal opponent against the farm laws.
Ms Banerjee tweeted, "My heartfelt congratulations to every single farmer who fought relentlessly and were not fazed by the cruelty with which BJP treated you. This is your victory. My deepest condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones in this fight."
The opposition has long been alleging that the Modi government could have easily listened to the protesting farmers and ended the matter well before the protest completed a year.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati congratulated farmers for their persistent protests that have now given results. "Farmers have been protesting for a year despite the cold and heat and their efforts have paid off. I congratulate the farmers. If this decision was taken earlier by the government, the country would have been spared of so much acrimony," Mayawati said.
PM Modi's announcement to cancel the farm laws came on Guru Purab festival, when Sikhism founder Guru Nanak's birthday is celebrated across India, mainly in Punjab, where elections will be held in three months.
"Maybe something was lacking in our tapasya (efforts), which is why we could not convince some farmers about the laws. But today is Prakash Parv, not the time to blame anyone. Today, I want to tell the country that we have decided to repeal the three farm laws," PM Modi said in an address to the nation.
The farmers who have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi for a year had insisted they would not call off the protest unless all the three laws were withdrawn. They have alleged the new laws would give power to private hands to control the farm sector. The government denied this allegation and had even offered to amend the laws. It had pointed out the laws would cut out middlemen. But the farmers stuck on with nothing less than complete repeal of the laws.