Armed with the recent announcement to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Congress, accusing it of betraying farmers of Punjab.
Speaking at a rally organised by the BJP and its alliance partner SAD in Malout, Punjab, PM Modi alleged that the party has used the farmers only as a vote bank during its 70 years of rule. While the grand old party has made tall promises to the farmers in the state it has delivered nothing in real to them, he said.
PM Modi, who was speaking at a thanksgiving rally in Malout in the state, claimed that the Congress' only concern has been for a particular family and "how to make it comfortable".
"Congress betrayed farmers, used them as vote bank. Congress only made promises to the farmers, its concern was only for a particular family and how to make them comfortable," he said.
"The farmer should have been the first to be uplifted. But for decades, you were ignored by the party that ruled India since Independence," said Modi taking a dig at the Congress that virtually routed the ruling SAD-BJP combine in 2017 assembly elections.
The 'thanksgiving rally' was organised to mark the recent hike in minimum support price for 14 summer crops. The hike was the biggest during the four years of NDA rule, which will cost the government nearly Rs 15,000 crore in public funds.
"Our farmer brothers can now breathe easy... they can earn better... they can sleep peacefully... because of the MSP increase," the Prime Minister said.
The PM, however, expressed concern over stubble burning and appealed to the farmers to prevent pollution by not burning the agricultural residue.
"Centre seriously working upon the problem of stubble burning," he said adding that the government is working towards doubling farmers' income.
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