BJP takes a leaf out of Mamata's book to woo farmers in Bengal

KOLKATA: With the assembly polls in West Bengal drawing near, BJP is adopting a strategy that Mamata Banerjee had taken in 2011 to win the elections wooing farmers.
Party leaders are meeting rice millers from Burdwan, Bankura and Birbhum districts, asking them to pay a minimum support price of Rs 1,400 per quintal to paddy farmers, who BJP leaders claim are now getting Rs 700-800 per quintal.

The state BJP leadership will also organise a 'Kisan Sabha' in November, when this year's kharif crop will start arriving in the market, to spread the message that Banerjee has failed to protect the interests of farmers.

The 'Kisan Sabha' will be attended by senior BJP leaders from Delhi. “BJP national president Amit Shah is expected to be present at the meeting,“ Rahul Sinha, state BJP president, told ET.

Sinha said he has received complaints from farmers across the state that they have not got the MSP of ` . 1,400 per quintal of paddy for good variety of rice fixed for 2014-15. This year, MSP for common variety of rice has been fixed Rs 1,410 per quintal against ` at Rs 1,360 a quintal last year. The price of better variety (Grade A) of paddy has been fixed at Rs 1,450 per quintal

“We will launch a state-wide agitation when harvest of the kharif crop will begin. We will take the farmers along with us and stage an agitation, demanding that they get right price for their produce.We will also launch a signature campaign to protect their welfare.The Mamata Banerjee government has failed to ensure proper returns to farmers of Bengal,“ Sinha said.

West Bengal, the largest rice producer in the country, produced about 159 lakh tonnes of rice in 2014-15. In 2014's kharif season, about 115 lakh tonnes of rice was produced. The state agriculture officials have indicated that this year too, the state will be able to maintain last year's rice crop.