AIADMK In Puducherry Questions Sep 28 Protest Against Farm

bills, cites COVID-19 pandemic Puducherry: The opposition AIADMK on Wednesday questioned the decision of ruling Congress-headed Secular Democratic Alliance here to hold agitations against the farm bills on September 28, saying it would be in violation of safety norms during the ongoing pandemic situation. A day after the alliance at a meeting here decided to hold the protests in Puducherry and Karaikal regions of the union territory, AIADMK Legislature party leader A Anbalagan also appealed to Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi to intervene and take appropriate steps to ensure that there was no threat to public health.

“It is indeed perplexing that a Chief Minister himself is announcing holding of agitations although it would be a clear case of violation of safety norms during the ongoing pandemic (COVID-19) situation,” he said in a release here. He urged the District collector to ban the agitation under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

The AIADMK MLA said his party would write to the Union Home Ministry drawing its attention to the proposed protest. On Tuesday, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had announced that the alliance would stage the agitation to register its “strong protest” against the agriculture reforms bills the Centre had passed “in a hurry in Parliament.” It was in line with the agitation announced by DMK president M K Stalin. DMK is a partner of the ruling alliance in Puducherry.

“Myself, my ministerial colleagues and legislators of the Congress and the alliance partners would participate in the agitations to urge the Centre to roll back the bills and protect the farmers from a major catastrophe contemplated in the new bills,” he had told reporters. The Chief Minister had accused the Centre of ‘inflicting’ hardship on the farmers through the bills and called the passage of the legislations as “a democratic mayhem” by the BJP-led Centre. .

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