The Congress on Friday alleged agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had “blatantly tried to mislead Parliament and the nation” by claiming in the Rajya Sabha that no one had been able to identify any flaws in the three new farm laws.

The Congress also declared support for, and participation in, the nationwide chakka jam (road blockade) announced by farmers’ unions on Saturday. Essential services are exempt.

“The Union agriculture minister blatantly tried to mislead Parliament and the nation,” a statement issued by the Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation, K.C. Venugopal, said.

“It is public knowledge that the farmers’ organisations have held 11 rounds of talks with the government wherein they provided a point-wise detail of the deficiencies and lacunae in the three laws, consequent to which even the government has openly agreed to bring about as many as 18 amendments.”

Farmers’ unions, the Congress and several independent experts have been saying that the three farm laws would together have a devastating impact on agriculture trade.

They have said the mandi (regulated wholesale market) system would gradually shut down if corporate houses are allowed to run a parallel procurement system. They have objected to the removal of the stock limit from the Essential Commodities Act and expressed outrage at the provision that the courts cannot be approached directly in case of disputes relating to contract farming.

While the farmers and Opposition parties view the government’s willingness to make large-scale amendments to the laws as an admission of their flaws, Tomar suggested the proposed changes meant no such thing and had been offered only out of respect for the farmers’ demands.

He asserted that the farmers had been instigated and misled about the implications of contract farming.

The protesting farmers have several reservations about contract farming, apart from their fear of possible procurements below the minimum support price (MSP) once corporate monopoly has been established. They have demanded a legally guaranteed MSP.

Also, the new farm laws’ constitutionality has been challenged in the Supreme Court, with some experts suggesting they have transgressed into areas where the states alone are entitled to lawmaking.

Critics have also cited how Bihar’s farmers have been suffering since the abolition of the APMC Act and the mandi system in the state.

Although the Centre has promised to continue with the mandi system, the protesting farmers believe these market yards would close down with time.

Fears have also been expressed about price manipulation if big companies are allowed unlimited storage and stocking facilities.

“For the last 73 days farmers across the country are protesting against the three agriculture laws enacted fraudulently by the government,” Venugopal said in the statement.

“As a part of this national movement, lakhs of farmers are agitating peacefully on the borders of Delhi in a Gandhian manner. However, the power-drunk Modi government is trying every mean trick of the trade to tire out and defame the protesting millions.

“Driven by the sole motive of benefiting its corporate cronies and steamrolling the laws by the brute force of parliamentary arithmetical majority, the government neither consulted the Opposition parties nor took any farmers’ organisation into confidence before enacting the laws.”