Farmers' suicide: Janata Parivar to launch attack on government

NEW DELHI: After cornering the government over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues, the Opposition parties seem to be opening another front against the NDA regime — that of farmer suicides.

Former PM and JD(S) leader Deve Gowda has threatened a hunger strike from Tuesday at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar — a centuries-old observatory that has become a popular rallying spot — if the Centre does not announce a special financial package for distressed farmers. Adding to the heat, JD(U) has decided to bring a breach of privilege motion against agriculture minister RM Singh over his controversial reply in Rajya Sabha on the possible reasons for farmers’ deaths.

This even as the AICC on Sunday advertised Congress’ resolve to carry on with its protest into the second week of Parliament’s monsoon session while putting the onus on the Centre to make Parliament run smoothly by sacking foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

A day after PM Modi launched his election campaign in Bihar with an attack on the Nitish Kumar regime, the latter’s JD(U) has decided to paint the NDA regime as anti-farmer. JD(U) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi said he would be filing with the chairman of Rajya Sabha a breach of privilege motion against the agriculture minister “for his irresponsible and misleading reply to Parliament on the reasons for farmer deaths, for which he even found fault with love affairs”. The JD(U) would also show solidarity with Gowda’s hunger strike.

Gowda’s colleague and JD(S) leader Danish Ali said they want the Centre to act by announcing a special package to deal with the growing cases of farmer suicides.