‘BJP’s betrayal of farmers led to defeat’ – The Hindu

Terming the BJP government at the Centre as anti-farmer, pro-corporate, and deeply communal, Ashok Dhawale, president of All-India Kisan Sabha, a farmers’ wing of CPI(M), attributed the party’s defeat in five States to “its betrayal to the farming community”.

He was addressing a divisional-level farmers’ conference and rally organised by Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha in Kalaburagi on Wednesday. “In its campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP promised to implement the M.S. Swaminathan Committee report that made a host of recommendations in favour of farmers, including one on scientific minimum support price. However, it threw the report in the dustbin after coming to power. The agrarian crisis has deepened and farmers’ condition worsened in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule,” he said.

Mr. Dhawale said the announcement of MSP was hoax that never intended to save farmers from the price crash. “MSP of ₹5,450 a quintal is fixed for red gram. It should have been ₹7,500 a quintal. Most of the farmers are not getting the price that the government has fixed. They are forced to sell their crop for around ₹4,000 a quintal. Sugar mills have not paid the dues of cane growers. But, the government is doing nothing to address these issues,” he said.