Demanding higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) for cotton, more than 30 Congress MLAs presented a memorandum to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, in which the Congress alleged today that her government had become insensitive towards farmers.
These MLAs were led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Gujarat Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela, former LoP Shaktisinh Gohil and Congress chief whip in the Gujarat Assembly Balwantsinh Rajput.
They gathered at Vaghela's office in the Gujarat Assembly and then went to meet CM Patel at her office in the Sachivalaya premises at Gandhinagar today evening.
In their memorandum, the Congress alleged that before elections, the BJP misled farmers by claiming that the UPA government had not given sufficient MSP and urged farmers to vote for the BJP for "acchhe din".
"However, under BJP rule, both at the Centre and the state, MSP of all agri-commodities plunged drastically. Today, farmers are under a huge debt, as they do not get fair prices. They are left with no other option other than commit suicide. It seems that the government has lost its sensitivity towards farmers," the Congress memorandum said.
The Congress also raked up the issue of a recent self-immolation of a farmer's son, Arvind Nagani, in Vinchhiya town of Rajkot.
"Arvind's father sold cotton to pay his son's college fees, but when his father recieved a meagre amount due to low MSP, Arvind set himself on fire and died. This is a very unfortunate and shameful incident for the BJP government," the Congress memorandum said.
The Congress also demanded that the Gujarat state government should announce a subsidy instead of spending crores on various festivals.
