Arvind Kejriwal ignores Manoj Tiwari's invite to talk farm laws; BJP leaders repeat request

NEW DELHI: The BJP Sunday sought to corner Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for opposing the new farm laws with the party leaders Adesh Gupta and Manoj Tiwari asking the AAP chief to fix a date and place of his choice where the "benefits of the legislations" could be explained to him. This comes after Kejriwal ignored Tiwari's Saturday's invite to his residence on Mother Teresa Crescent Road to clear his "doubts" on the laws.
Tiwari said he was waiting for the chief minister at his residence at 3 pm on Sunday.

After the chief minister did not come, Tiwari told the media the AAP leader should either stop "misleading people" on the farm laws or accept his invitation.

Gupta, who was also with Tiwari at his residence, said since the Delhi Chief Minister could not come at the BJP MP's residence, he may select any place and time where the benefits of the three legislations could be explained to him.

Kejriwal on Friday claimed the Centre's new agricultural reform laws will not benefit farmers in any way and do a lot of harm.

"The BJP says that these laws will not harm farmers. But what is their benefit? They say that now the farmers will be able to sell their crop anywhere outside the market. But outside the market, the crop is sold at half the price. How is this a benefit? The truth is that these laws will do a lot of harm and don't have a single benefit," Kejriwal had said in a tweet.

Tiwari said he had invited Kejriwal to his residence as he did not meet opposition leaders and also refrained from meeting even public representatives sitting outside his residence.

Recently, the three mayors and leaders of BJP ruled municipal corporations sat on a dharna outside Chief Minister's residence for 13 days but he did not meet them.

"If Arvind Kejriwal has any genuine doubts about the farm laws or he really fails to understand benefits of the same, we are ready to help him. He should stop misleading people about the farm laws or accept our offer," Tiwari told the media Sunday.

Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party have come out strongly in support of the farmers protesting against the new laws.

Earlier this month, Kejriwal had visited Singhu border, one of the protest sites, and reviewed arrangements made by the city government for farmers.

Tiwari, a former Delhi BJP president, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has explained the benefits of the new laws and senior BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and national president JP Nadda have repeatedly assured that the MSP regime and the Mandi system will continue.

Farmers from various parts of the country have been camping at different border points of Delhi for over four weeks now to demand repeal of the three agri laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.

The three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.