Advising Rahul Gandhi to remain away from the farmers' stir as he has been conspicuously absent from making an appearance at any of the protest sites, Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy on Tuesday took a dig at the Congress leader, saying he should remain away from the issue as he "neither understands farmers' problems nor can address them".
The Minister's poke came while he was speaking to the media amid the Bharat Bandh called by the agitating farmers.
Reddy criticised the Congress for ignoring farmers' issues during its seven-decade in power, and accused the grand old party for the deaths of thousands of farmers who committed suicides due to various issues.
Hitting out at the main opposition party, Reddy said: "What did you do in last 70 years? Why thousands of farmers committed suicide? We introduced the farm bills on the basis of demands and questions raised by farmers and farmer unions."
The Minister added "neither Rahul Gandhi can understand farmers problem nor he can address on these matters. So, there is no need of his attention over the matter".
The Minister addressed the media after a brief meeting with Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar at the Krishi Bhawan.
On house arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Reddy said "lakhs of people are moving in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal is among them. There is no need to arrest him. We don't want to arrest him".
The Minister said the government has no problem with protest as it is people's right to raise their voices but warned that "there is no place for violence".
Referring that all opposition political parties speaking have been against the central government and are participating in the "Bharat Bandh" called by the farmers, Reddy urged the farmers that they should discuss their issues with the government as it is ready to talk over the three farm laws which inconvenience them.
Meanwhile, the Minister urged to avoid the "propaganda of political parties".
The Minister's statement came amid ongoing 'Bharat Bandh' protest called by the farmers sitting at Delhi's different border demanding the Central government to repeal three contentious farm laws enacted during Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The farmer protests on Tuesday entered the 13th straight day with thousands of them from Punjab, Haryana and many other states rallying on Delhi borders since November 26 as the government has so far not fulfilled their demand even after five round of government-farmer talks.
