Agrarian crisis: Karnataka minister attacks PM Narendra Modi

MANGALURU: Karnataka Minister UT Khader today slammed the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not addressing the farmers' problems and the agrarian crisis in the country.

The Centre should take pro-active steps to address the woes of farmers and the common man in a more realistic way without resorting to social media gimmicks like selfies with daughters, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare said in a statement here.

Reacting to the reported statement of Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel criticising state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for rising farmers' suicides, Khader said the state had taken several steps to ease the problems of farmers.

Government had always stepped in to bail out farmers in times of crises without waiting for Centre's help, he said.

On Kateel's comment that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had not bothered to visit Karnataka while he was seeing farmers in BJP-ruled states, Khader said it was heartening to note that BJP leaders had now started acknowledging Gandhi's leadership qualities.

Khader alleged that the Prime Minister was undermining national honour by trying to build bridges with Pakistan at a time when the latter was "killing our soldiers along the Line of Control."

He wanted the Centre to release a 'white paper' on the number of soldiers killed on the border since Modi assumed office. BJP, which had criticised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he tried to normalise cricketing ties, was now proposing to hold a series with the country in a neutral venue, Khader said.

The party that attacked Congress-led UPA and Manmohan Singh then, has a lot of explaining to do on this new initiative, the minister said.