Athawale says protesters' demands illegitimate

Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said if the Centre starts withdrawing laws passed in Parliament bowing to protests, then the parliamentary democracy and the Constitution "would be in danger". Athawale said the farmers'  demand is "illegitimate"."The law has been passed by majority in Parliament. If such laws are withdrawn because there are protests against it, then it would be a precedent for every law passed on the floor of the House, which will put the Constitution and parliamentary democracy in danger," he said.

Athawale said farmers should accept the compromise formula suggested by the central government."Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing farmers in Madhya Pradesh recently, said there will be no impact on the Minimum Support Price and Agricultural Produce Market Committees due to the new laws," he said.

The farmers’ protest was set off by the three farm laws pushed through Parliament by the government in September. These allow agribusinesses to trade with minimal regulation, permit traders to stockpile large quantities of food commodities for economies of scale and lay down new contract farming rules. Farmers say the new rules favour big corporations to whom they will lose business, gut the mandi system and gradually end the regime of minimum support prices (MSP) that acts as a protective net for cultivators.