PM should sack Union minister Danve over his remarks on farmers’ agitation: NCP

Mahesh Tapase. (Twitter@maheshtapase)

Taking inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, farmers of the country are exercising their constitutional right to oppose the draconian “anti-farmer” laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government, the state unit of the NCP said on Thursday.

“Even after so many rounds of discussion between the government and the farmers, no concrete decision has been arrived at and the farmers of the country are feeling cheated by the NDA regime. This is absolutely shameful for the NDA as the farmers have totally lost trust in the government. The government has shown its blatant indifference to the plight of farmers by categorically stating that there will no rollback of the laws. The government should learn from history, where dictatorial ruling regimes have been overthrown by agrarian revolutions across the world, ” said NCP state chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.

Criticising Union Minister Raosaheb Danve over his comments on the farmers’ protests, the NCP said, “It is absolutely shameful that Danve has called the farmer agitation an agitation backed by China and Pakistan. We demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately sack him.”

NCP said during the UPA government’s rule, when party chief Sharad Pawar was the Union agriculture minister, he insisted on higher MSP for farmers, which in turn yielded higher production of foodgrain.

“Pawar Saheb introduced new schemes for horticulture, fisheries, poultry and other allied agricultural activities. The policies of the UPA government increased the financial earning of the farmers of the country. Today, the same farmers feel threatened and apprehensive about loss of earning after the introduction of the new farm laws,” read a press release by the party.

“Pawar Saheb, as agriculture minister of the country, drafted the Rs 70,000 crore loan waiver scheme for marginalised farmers. Export of food grains, buffer stock in times of calamities and ensuring food security for the nation were some of the important and landmark schemes under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. The BJP does not seem to be interested in safeguarding the livelihoods of farmers and has decided to throw them at the mercy of the corporates by openly supporting corporate companies in taking over agriculture trade,” said Tapase.

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