NEW DELHI: Union minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday opposition parties asking for the rollback of the Centre’s farm laws, which are being opposed by thousands of farmers, are hypocrites and pointed out that they had passed the contract farming act while in power.

Several political parties such as the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena, Left parties and many others have extended their support to the farmers ‘call for the Bharat Bandh on Tuesday. The four-hour Bharat Bandh or the nationwide strike started on Tuesday at 11am.

“The opposition which is asking to roll back these laws is hypocritical as they had passed the contract farming act while in power. Congress has mentioned the introduction of these laws in their manifesto,” Javadekar, the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, said according to news agency ANI.

“Farmers had demanded remunerative price additional to the cost and we are giving them 50% above the cost. Congress has never offered anything during their tenure. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is giving this,” Javadekar added.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “It has been an old practice of the opposition parties to mislead the people on every issue and destroy the image of the nation. While in power, parties like Congress, NCP, Akali Dal and Left have supported such bills.”

Amid a Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday, the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s farm laws entered its 13th day. In view of the nationwide strike, a huge force of security personnel was deployed at Singhu border between Haryana and Delhi.

The farmer unions are observing the strike as they are not satisfied with the three newly-enacted farm laws - Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Leaders of farmers’ groups have held several rounds of talks with the government but all of them remained inconclusive so far. After the fifth round of talks, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has called another meeting on December 9.