Rahul begins UP Kisan Yatra, attacks Modi

Eyeing Assembly elections scheduled in early 2017, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday kicked off his ‘Kisan Yatra’ in Uttar Pradesh.

Trying to mobilise farmers, the Amethi MP started his campaign from Rudrapur, a village in Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and said the Narendra Modi government did not care for farmers. Gandhi said he would meet farmers to understand their grievances and would convey those to the Centre.

He told farmers that the three key demands of his roadshow were farm loan waivers, subsidised power and adequate minimum support price for agriculture produce. He said the previous UPA government had increased the MSP adequately during its ten years in power.

“What is the situation now? The Centre is not keen to increase the MSP,” he said. “Modi talked a lot about farmers. But when he came to power he forgot about them and their issues,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader blamed both the State and Central governments for the issues faced by sugarcane farmers in the locality.

“There were 17 sugar mills in this district. Now, not even one mill is functioning. This area was known as sugar bowl of the country. The State and Central governments are responsible for this,” he said.

He said if the BJP government is committed to the welfare of farmers, they should waive their loans. “The UPA government waived of ₹70,000 crore worth loans of farmers. Last year, Modi ji ’s government waived loans of ₹50,000 crore of big industrialists. He should also do so for farmers,” he said.

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