These bills will strip farmers of their financial security net, Tejashwi Yadav said (File)
With the Centre rolling out a slew of development projects for Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said "grandiose PR exercises" are a poor substitute for governance, and the real issues in the elections would be unemployment, "corporatisation of agriculture" and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview to PTI, Mr Yadav also asserted that it is "undisputed and settled" that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is the "natural leader of the ''mahagathbandhan'' (grand alliance)" and seat sharing will be settled soon.
Hitting out at the Modi government over the issue of the three farm bills, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly said that the RJD has always fought for the rights of farmers and will fight "tooth and nail" against this "corporatisation of the agriculture sector".
"These bills will strip farmers of their financial security net which has been safeguarded by provisions like public procurement and MSP (minimum support price)," Mr Yadav said.
Why did a Union cabinet minister resign if the bills were not "anti-farmer", he asked referring to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal quitting the Cabinet last week over the farm bills issue.
The Opposition has been hitting out at the government over the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, alleging that they are anti-farmer, a claim the government has denied, stressing that they will be beneficial for the agriculture sector.
Asserting that his party will fight the Bihar polls on people''s issues, Mr Yadav said this is going to be an election between "unemployed youths, pro-democracy and pro-Constitution forces versus an authoritarian, divisive and anti-constitution regime".
"Bihar is the land of revolutionary political movements like the Champaran Satyagraha, and I am sure this election will be a watershed moment in the current political discourse plagued by authoritarianism," the former Bihar deputy chief minister said.