PM attacks opposition

Tearing into the opposition over the protests against the new agri-marketing laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said those who have a history of deceit were playing tricks again on farmers.

The attack comes when thousands of farmers are gathered at the entry points of the national capital, seeking the repeal of the three laws.

"The farmers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades," he said, in an apparent reference to parties which are now in the opposition but not directly naming them.

The prime minister was addressing a public meeting in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, where he spent several hours.