PTI
NEW DELHI, APRIL 20
Rahul Gandhi on Monday led the opposition attack in the Lok Sabha on the government over the problems being faced by farmers, saying it had "failed" them and specifically targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over it.In his first speech in the Budget session, the Congress vice president said the government was "ignoring" the farming community and favouring the industrialists and rich people, which was a "blunder" as the farmers will 'harm" BJP in future.
"The acche din government has failed the country" on the issue of farmers, he said while participating in a short duration discussion on 'The agrarian situation in the country'.
He said farmers are responsible for laying the "foundation" for whatever the country has achieved but they are being ignored by the government.
Taking digs at the Prime Minister, he said Modi "should switch over to the side of farmers and labourers from that of high and mighty and industrialists" as it will benefit BJP politically and harm Congress.
"I will offer an advice to the Prime Minister. He will gain politically if he changes sides as farmers are over 67 per cent of population. You are making a blunder by harming farmers and labourers and they will harm you in future. If you switch over to their side it will help you and may harm us," he said.
Rahul, who was absent in the House during the first part of the Budget session as he was away, said he has been wondering over the Prime Minister's policies, which were "affecting" farmers, since Modi knows the "political calculations" and has just won the elections.
"Then it occurred to me that the price of farmers' land has been rising and your corporate friends covet these lands.
You are weakening the farmers now and then use this axe of land ordinance to hit them," he said, charging that the government wanted to acquire land to help industrialists.
Amid continuous uproar and clashes between the treasury and opposition benches, Rahul cited figures to underline that farmers and agriculture are being neglected under the NDA.
He said the agriculture sector grew by only one percent during the 10-month-old Modi government and had grown by 2.6% during the previous NDA government.
He accused the government of giving out contradictory figures about the damages suffered by farmers during the recent unseasonal rains and said BJP would function like this as it was used to speaking different voices.
At this, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh intervened to say that figures were different as the states had revised these.
Later, Rahul told reporters outside the Parliament House that "the basic point is that the government doesn't understand the pain of the farmers and common people."
In the House, he said the 10-year UPA regime had ensured sharp rise in the MSPs of wheat, rice and sugarcane. While wheat MSP shot up from Rs 640 to 1400 per quintal and that of rice and sugarcane rose from Rs 560 and Rs 73 to Rs 1310 and Rs 220 respectively, he said.
During the present government, the MSP of wheat has been raised by only Rs 50, sugarcane by Rs 10 and cotton by Rs 50, Gandhi said.
Gandhi's attack comes a day after Congress launched an all-out war on the government over the controversial land bill in a farmers' rally on Sunday which was addressed by party president Sonia Gandhi besides a host of other senior leaders, including him.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh was today forced to express regret in the Lok Sabha for his racist remarks against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, after vociferous protests on the issue.
“I never meant to offend anyone. But if my comments hurt anyone’s sentiments, I regret it,” Singh said when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked him to respond after the House saw loud protests by Congress members, who termed his remarks as an insult to womanhood and sought his resignation.
Soon after the House met, the Speaker allowed Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia to raise the issue when his party colleagues protested. She said she was also hurt by the remarks and such statements should not be made.
Both Gandhi and Giriraj Singh were present in the House. The minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises was under fire for his racist barb at Gandhi asking whether Congress would have accepted her leadership had she not been white-skinned. “Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her (Sonia’s) leadership,” he had said recently.
Demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the resignation of Singh, Scindia said such remarks make people hang their heads in shame.
“It is an insult to womanhood … It is also an insult to the Nigerians too…the Nigerian High Commissioner has also protested,” he said.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said BJP MPs and ministers have continuously been making unwarranted and irresponsible statements. Such remarks create fissures in the society and hurt harmony, he said.
