'Don't lose heart, we will stand by you,' Rahul tells Vidarbha farmers

Stepping up the attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused it of “abandoning” farmers at a time when the country is faced with an agrarian crisis, and backing “crony capitalists”.

Setting off on his day-long padyatra (foot march) through the affected villages of the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, he told reporters, “The situation is very disturbing. There is a feeling of abandonment. The role of the government is to give a helping hand to the people when they suffer. But the governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre have let them down.”

“The farmers have complained that they have been deprived of the bonus by the Bharatiya Janata Party government across the country. This government is for a few crony capitalists and has no interest in protecting the farmers, the poor man, and labourers,” the Congress Vice President, just back from a sudden tour of Punjab where he met distressed farmers, said.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “This is not a government that stands for farmers, workers and small businessman but this is a government for big business interests. The situation is not good for the farming community which I had realised after meeting the families of farmers who have committed suicide earlier in this cotton belt.” 

For the second consecutive day, Rahul drew on a controversial comment by Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar that farmers committing suicide were “cowards” and “criminals”, to target the National Democratic Alliance government.

Farmers were further “ridiculed” with remarks by the union agriculture minister in Parliament that only three farmers have committed suicide, he said.

Rahul, who set out his sanvad yatra early in the morning in Amaravati district,interacted with the farmers at the villages he travelled and many of them narrated their woes.

Some of them told him that insurance companies were engaging in fraud and the requisite compensation was not paid to them for crop loss. Rahul said there were three major problems being faced by the farmers. 

“The biggest problem is that of debt. Wherever we went, the farmers said their debt must be waived.”

The second complaint he repeatedly heard in Maharashtra, in Punjab and other parts of the country was that the farmers were not getting the minimum support price for the food grains, he said, adding, “The MSP has not been increased. This is also a big issue.”

“The bonus issue has also come to light. Earlier, the farmers used to get bonus and now there is none. Generally, the feeling is that the way in which help must come is not happening,” said Rahul who listened to the woes of farmers and their families during his foot march.

Sitting on a jute mat at a temple in Hirapur village, the Congress vice president gave a patient hearing to a group of marginal farmers.

The villagers alleged that “insurance companies were only selecting sample areas for giving compensation while the rest of the farmers were being deprived by them of the benefits due.”

“The insurance companies send their agents who mop up business for foreign giants as an incentive but ultimately it is the poor farmer who loses,” Pandurang, a villager complained to Rahul.

Some of them said that pesticides and fertilisers were being supplied to them at high prices even though the cost of production of such items was quite less.

The villagers also drew Rahul's attention to the damage their soya crop has suffered in the unseasonal rainfall. Soyabean prices have crashed heavily due to the damages, another farmer said.

Hailing Rahul's initiative in opposing the Land Acquisition Bill, 2015, in Parliament, the villagers said there was apprehension that farm land would be acquired for business.

Nearly 171 farmers have committed suicide from 2006 to 2014 in Dhamangaon taluka of the district; the villagers informed the Congress leader.

Under a scorching sun, Rahul went on foot from village to village. The padyatra saw the participation of a large number of Congress workers, particularly from Youth Congress, waving the party flag, banners and posters.

Earlier, in Gunji, Rahul met the family members of farmers Nilesh Walke and Ambadas Vahile who committed suicide recently.

Gunji, with a population of 1,200, was the first stop in the padyatra where Rahul also interacted briefly with a group of children from orphanages.

Subsequently, he marched to Shahpur village, another area which has seen a high incidence of farmers’ suicides. Situated 5-km away from Gunji in Amravati district, it is represented by Virendra Jagtap of Congress in the Maharashtra assembly.

Photographs: @INCIndia/Twitter