Congress leaders denounce 'anti-farmer' policies of Narendra Modi government

YAVATMAL(MAHARASHTRA): Congress today attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre for pursuing policies which it claimed were against the interest of farmers.

Leaders at a rally, organised by Youth Congress' local unit here, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "reneging" on promises he made while participating in 'chai per charcha' (discussion over tea) held at Dabhadi village in Yavatmal district, which falls in cotton belt, as part of BJP's campaign for the last year's Lok Sabha elections.

Modi, then BJP's PM candidate, had promised higher remunerative prices for cotton, its export and reduction in crop loan interest rate, among other sops for farmers, if his party was voted to power.

However, he "reneged" on his promises after coming to power, the Congress leaders alleged.

Under initiative of former Maharashtra Minister Shivajirao Moghe, the rally adopted a resolution, criticising the NDA Government for its "anti-farmer" policies.

Dabhadi and its surrounding villages have reported a number of suicide by farmers in the past.

Speakers led by Bala Bachchan, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly and Secretary of All-India Congress Committee, hit out at the Modi Government for "neglecting" the farmers of the country and pushing for changes in the 2013 Land Act.

Besides Bachchan and Moghe, others who addressed the rally included former Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly Vasant Purke, former MLA Wamanrao Kasawar, ex-Minister Sanjay Deshmukh and former Irrigation Minister of Andhra Pradesh Ramchandra Reddy.

Bachchan said Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself was leading the attack on the ruling combine on farmer issues. The Modi Government, which is about to complete a year in office, should have by now taken some concrete steps to set up cotton processing units in Vidarbha.

A sizeable crowd of farmers, including women, raised their hands to support the resolution condemning the anti-farmers policies. The leaders called on the farmers not to take extreme steps like committing suicide and assured Congress will not leave them in the lurch.

Reddy said in Andhra Pradesh, about 776 farmers have committed suicide in the last few months. Farmer leaders from MP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Telangana addressed the rally.

As a symbolic protest, the leaders on the dais were served black tea.