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A day after hitting out at the Narendra Modi government over the land acquisition Bill at a farmers rally, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a visceral attack in the Lok Sabha on how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government represented those who wear "suits and boots" and has failed the farmers of India.
It was Rahul's first appearance in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget session, after giving a miss to the first part, as he was on a sabbatical.
Speaking on the agrarian crisis, a combative Rahul ignored the barbs from the treasury benches about his absence to rattle out statistics to drill holes in the "achche din" claims of the government. Rahul's two speeches, on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan and on Monday, suggest a determined effort to engage the Modi government not so much on the specifics of either the land acquisition issue or agrarian crisis but to win the war of perception.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was at pains to request BJP members to not interrupt Rahul, and later in his reply retorted how the Congress had "words for the poor but deeds for the rich, which is why you (Congress) are there (on Opposition benches) and we (BJP) are here (on treasury benches". Earlier in the day, nearly the entire Opposition forced an adjournment of the proceedings when the government introduced a copy of the re-promulgated land ordinance. Later, the Congress demanded the Bill, while is likely to be introduced on May 4, be referred to a standing committee.
In his 25-minute speech, Rahul said the Modi government had undone all the good work of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) years by allowing the minimum support price (MSP) for crops to "stagnate" and lowered the rate of growth in disbursal of farm credit. He claimed growth in distributing farm credit was nearly 700 per cent in the UPA years, which was now a measly five per cent, while increase in MSP has not kept pace with the cost of inputs. This, Rahul said, had reduced the farm sector growth from 4.1 per cent in the UPA years to one per cent per annum now.
He claimed the government was speaking in multiple voices on the estimates of crop damage. Rahul said he would suggest to the PM to travel the countryside to see for himself the quantum of damage. Quoting the father of the Indian Green Revolution,
M S Swaminathan, Rahul said, "The future will belong to nations with grains, not guns." The Congress leader said the Modi government was talking of missiles and fighter jets, neglecting peasants and workers, who comprise 60 per cent of India.
"Land prices are seeing a sharp increase. Your corporate friends desire this land…you are enfeebling farmers and then hitting them with the axe of ordinances," he said. He cautioned the government that the poor of this country will teach them a lesson. "India's strength isn't big business but its farmers," Rahul said.
First Parliamentary Affairs Minister Naidu and later Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh replied to the attack by the Congress leader. Singh said the Congress looted farmers for 10 years. The Congress and Samajwadi Party members, claiming they were dissatisfied with Singh's reply, staged a walkout. Singh said the government has relaxed norms for compensation to farmers hit by the recent unseasonal rains which has affected 9,381,000 hectares of farm land according to latest reports. Naidu advised the Opposition to have patience for five years as the government has been in the saddle for barely 11 months, a short time to undo the 50-years of Congress rule. Outside Parliament, Rahul told reporters the government had no answers to the questions he raised.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha witnessed two adjournments - first when the Congress demanded minister Giriraj Singh apologise for his remarks about the skin colour of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and later when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy placed a copy of the re-promulgated land ordinance.
