Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the death of a protesting farmer a day before his rally in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.
Gandhi's remarks came a day before the crucial by-election in Kairana parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh where a united Opposition is taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kairana is over 50 km away from Baghpat.
"The sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh are thinking that the Prime Minister, who is taking credit for UPA schemes, wades through their farms in a road show but does not pay attention to them. Unfortunately, farmers like Udayveer, who gave away their life while fighting for their rights cannot even think of this (of Prime Minister paying attention)," Gandhi said in a tweet.
Udayveer, a sugarcane farmer, died on Saturday during a protest at Baghpat's Baraut tehsil over pending cane dues and power tariff hike.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also attacked the Modi government over the death of the protesting farmer.
"Udayveer lost his life during protest of sugarcane farmers. Modi-Adityanath, who came to power on promise of clearing dues of farmers in 14 days have forgotten that dues of Rs 12,224 crore are pending and electricity bill has been raised by Rs 1,600 per month."
Modi, earlier on Sunday, inaugurated the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway (Eastern Peripheral Expressway) project, intended to relieve Delhi from traffic congestion at Baghpat.
--IANS
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