Gandhinagar, Oct 5 : Union Minister for Textiles and Women and Child Development Smriti Irani said on Monday that after so many years of independence, it was now for the first time in the country's history after the passing of the three farm Bills that the farmers of the country were free in the true sense and it was this freedom which irked the opposition Congress which has been riding on the support of middlemen. The Union minister and MP from Amethi Smriti Irani was here at the state BJP headquarters to explain the benefits of the three new farm Bills brought by the Modi government that were passed recently in the Parliament. "I congratulate the farmers of this country for the freedom they got. They got freed from the middlemen and now they are free to sell their produce to anybody, whereas earlier they were bound by some particular 'Mandis'. This historic step was availed by the passing of the three new Bills for agriculture recently in Parliament. This freedom of the farmers has irked the opposition Congress who have the support of the middlemen whose interests are harmed by the new Bills." To a question on how many farmers are linked with the online trading, Irani said that farmers are linked with more than 1,000 platforms across the country. When told that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that if his party forms the government he will tear down these three new agricultural laws of the BJP-led NDA government, Irani said, "The gentleman (Rahul) is known for his insults of parliamentary traditions. Earlier he had even torn down the ordinance brought in by ex-PM Manmohan Singh." /IANS