Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that corporates will not be able to snatch away lands belonging to farmers as long as Narendra Modi is the prime minister of the country, PTI reported.

Addressing a gathering in Kishangarh village, New Delhi, Shah also sought to address concerns about the new agriculture laws, reiterating that the provision of Minimum Support Price will continue and mandis (wholesale markets) will not be shut down. He accused Opposition parties of spreading lies about the new laws.

“The Opposition is telling brazen lies,” he said, according to PTI. “I reiterate that the MSP will continue and the mandis will not be closed. Farmers’ welfare is the topmost priority of the Modi government.”

At a separate meeting, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made an appeal to let the new laws be implemented, assuring farmers that the government would make changes if they do not prove beneficial, reported NDTV.

“Let the farm laws be implemented for a year or so,” he said. “If they are not found to be beneficial for farmers, we will be ready for necessary amendments.”

He also urged farmer leaders protesting against the laws to resolve the deadlock through talks.

“All problems can be resolved through dialogue,” Singh said. “The prime minister wants talks with farmers to continue. I appeal to all protesting farmers to come forward for discussions on farm law.”

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including several Cabinet ministers, on Friday took part in an outreach programme in a bid to present the Centre’s stand and assurances, as protests against the new laws at various borders of the national Capital completed a month. As many as 100 press conferences and 700 meetings are planned across the country, as part of the programme.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Rs 18,000 crore for over nine crore farmers in the latest tranche of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, or PM-KISAN scheme. Speaking to farmers of six states during the event, the prime minister claimed that the new laws were well received across the country and that the Opposition was spreading misinformation about them.

Farm law protests

Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at key entry points to Delhi for a month, withstanding temperatures of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius.

The farmers fear the agricultural reforms will weaken the minimum support price mechanism under which the government buys agricultural produce, will lead to the deregulation of crop-pricing, deny them fair remuneration for their produce and leave them at the mercy of corporations.

The government, on the other hand, maintains that the new laws will give farmers more options in selling their produce, lead to better pricing, and free them from unfair monopolies.