Amid the ongoing farmers protest in the country against the three agriculture laws recently passed in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually addressed Madhya Pradesh farmers and said the laws have not been introduced overnight. There have been decades of discussions, consultations before being implemented, he said. “Farmers of India can’t be left behind while other countries are moving towards new technologies. Now, a lot of discussion is going on over farm laws. These should have been done long ago. And these have not been introduced overnight. Our farmers have been demanding these for decades. If today we see the past manifestoes of the political parties, we will find the same promises,” PM Modi said.

Taking a swipe at the opposition parties for “misleading” farmers for gaining back the lost political ground, PM Modi said, “I don’t think they have a problem with the farm reforms. They have problems with the fact that what they promised and could not deliver has been now done by Modi. I am folding my hands in front of all political parties. Please, take all credit you want. I will give credit to the manifestoes of the political parties.”

“When they were in power, they junked Swaminathan Commission report. We dug out the report and implemented the recommendations,” PM Modi said adding that Madhya Pradesh farmers are well aware of Congress’s false promises. “You know better as they had promised loan waiver to Madhya Pradesh farmers. But have all of you got that?” he said.

Congress’s promise of farm loan waiver never includes small farmers who can’t even go to banks and loan waiver was only applicable to a few big farmers, PM Modi said.

Reiterating the government’s commitment towards the MSP system, PM Modi said, “Had we actually wanted to do away with MSP, why would we implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission? The laws came into force few months ago. But MSP system is continuing. There can be no bigger lie, bigger conspiracy than this that we are abolishing MSP. This system will not end.”

Comparing the minimum support prices on various crops between now and the previous government, PM Modi said, “The previous government used to give an MSP of Rs 1,400 per quintal of wheat and Rs 1,310 per quintal of paddy. Our government offers an MSP of Rs 1,975 per quintal of wheat and Rs 1,870 per quintal of paddy.”

“If I start telling you what all our government has done for the welfare of farmers, I may run out of time. But I am quoting these figures so that you can understand the commitment of this government towards farmers,” PM Modi said.