Consider what we inherited when we came to power, says Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu specifically sought to respond to the issues raised by the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who had accused the Modi government of ignoring the interest of farmers.

“Rahul babu, you were in power for 50 years and we have been in power only 9-10 months,” Mr Naidu said, as he listed out the measures taken by the government to help farmers.

On compensation for farmers, Mr Naidu said “virasat me hame kya mila (what we inherited when we came to power) that also has to be taken into account”. “We need to seriously look at the issues faced by farmers... We have to put all our heads together to find everlasting long term solutions,” Mr Naidu said.

“13 Central Acts were exempted by my friend, Jairam Ramesh from the purview of the Land Act,” he noted. Refuting Mr Gandhi’s charges, he said, “As a farmer, I want to open up my heart... There is no benefit in scoring brownie points... headline in media cannot be deadline for us.”