Amid a peaceful 'Bharat Bandh' in Andhra Pradesh, state BJP President Somu Veerraju on Tuesday supported the new central farm laws, even as his party colleagues tried to explain their finer points through explanatory videos and slides.
"I am with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will not give support to Bharat Bandh," said Veerraju.
S Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, state BJP General Secretary, claimed that the farm laws would be a game changer for farmers. "They will help them increase their incomes. It will empower them. They will also help increase India's GDP and achieve the full potential of agriculture sector," he claimed.
Reddy said people need to know about the Acts properly and asked them to read them before protesting against the government. He criticised the Congress for participating in the protests.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao claimed that the new laws were aimed at giving freedom to farmers, who he claimed had suffered decades-long manipulation at the hands of some government players and middlemen.
"These are revolutionary laws. Many governments deliberated but did not dare to implement them," he asserted.
He claimed that similar recommendations were made in the Swaminathan report during the UPA government in 2005.
Rao claimed that farmers did not have the power to sell their crops anywhere in the country unlike other small businessmen or artisans. "There is no fault of the farmers... they have been brainwashed with lies that some injustice is happening to them," he said.
Meanwhile, Left parties and others opposing the three laws protested in Tiruapati where the BJP is eyeing the Parliament seat that fell vacant due to demise of Balli Durgaprasad.
In Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district, former Amalapuram MP Harsha Kumar who recently joined the Congress led a bike rally in support of the farmers.
Like other places, Nellore police have also tightened security in the district to prevent untoward incidents, even as supporters of Left parties protested in Guduru, TP Guduru, and other places.
