Narendra Modi ignoring farmers by not taking part in debates in Parliament: Ghulam Nabi Azad

LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "ignoring farmers by not participating in debates over issues concerning them in Parliament".

"Since the current government took over more than two years back, there have been many debates on issues concerning farmers such as suicides but the prime minister did not participate in them to express his sympathy...this shows how concerned he is for them," he said at a programme where the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Kisan Manch merged with the Congress.

"Thousands of farmers have committed suicide over drought or debts, but the prime minister is always on foreign trips...Modi did not even feel the need to go among the farmers to understand their plight," Azad alleged.

On the other hand, he said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi undertook the 'Deoria-to-Delhi Kisan Yatra' to "understand the difficulties of farmers".

He reiterated that the Congress and Rahul have promised that if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, all farmers' loans will be waived, their electricity bills will be halved and they will get a "proper" support price for their produces.

Earlier, Kisan Manch state unit chief Shekhar Dikshit, along with his supporters, merged the unit with the Congress.

Congress' chief ministerial candidate in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election Sheila Dixit too addressed the gathering on the occasion.