PM Modi’s Party Opposing MSP Guarantee Promise Made By CM Modi: Congress
New Delhi, February 14: Supporting the peaceful agitation of farmers for legal guarantee on MSP, the Congress today reminded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the promise he made before 2014 that farmers will get their MSP based on input costs plus 50 percent profit.
It also condemned the brutal use of force against the farmers and asked whether the PM was afraid of meeting the farmers.
“PM Modi”s party is opposing the promise of MSP guarantee made by CM Modi!”, remarked Pawan Khera, Chairman, Media and Publicity (Communication Department), AICC, while addressing a press conference here today.
Khera said, be it the BJP”s manifesto of 2014 or the recommendation of CM Modi”s committee, the Modi government betrayed the farmers on the legal guarantee for MSP.
“BJP”s ecosystem, enraged by Congress” promise of giving MSP to 15 crore farmer families, is opposing just like it opposed the same in its affidavit to the Supreme Court in February 2015”, he observed.
Khera pointed out, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have taken a historic decision for 62 crore farmers of the country yesterday in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh. Congress party will give legal guarantee of MSP to the farmers, he said, while adding, many BJP leaders are rattled and have started raising questions on this. “As soon as the announcement was made, the entire ecosystem of the BJP started spreading lies and propaganda on the MSP”, he added.
The senior Congress leader pointed out, the entire country saw how the Modi government has resorted to brutal ways to stop farmers from marching towards Delhi, by setting up barbed wire, nails on roads, showering rubber bullets, tear gas from drones and cement walls.
“We all witnessed the cruel scenes yesterday. As if that was not enough, now the BJP is raising questions on the MSP itself”, he observed, while quoting Rahul Gandhi saying, “the one whose USP is fraud, can only do politics with the farmers in the name of MSP, not justice.”
Khera asked the BJP, “is it not true that the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Government, Shri Narendra Modi, as the Chairman of the Working Group on Consumer Affairs, in March 2011, had said that ‘higher prices would motivate farmers to increase the production’”?
Maintaining that the report directly talked about implementing MSP, he quoted the report saying, “the market intervention for perishable products could also be introduced on cost sharing basis by GOI with the States”.
“If Modi Ji himself had not given this recommendation, then who had given it? Is he now going back on his own recommendations and opposing them?”, he asked.
Posing another question to the BJP, he asked, “is it not true that in an election rally in Haryana before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the then BJP”s Prime Ministerial candidate, Shri Narendra Modi had promised farmers Input Cost+ 50% on the lines of the Swaminathan Report?”
Referring to a complete U-turn made by the BJP later, he asked, “is it not true that while responding to a PIL in the Supreme Court in February 2015, the Modi government took a shameful “U” turn and replied with an oath that the cost of production + 50% profit can never be given to the farmers?”
Asserting that the Congress has always been for legal guarantee of MSP, he referred to a resolution in its Raipur Plenary held last year itself, saying this was recorded in the party”s resolution for Agriculture and Agricultural welfare.
