Congress leader asks Modi to visit mandis when in India
Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi: “Farmers in mandis are crying in pain. Our Prime Minister is on a tour of foreign countries. He has come here for some days. He should go to Punjab for some time and meet farmers and talk to them in the mandis,” said Mr Gandhi in a short speech, that drew protests from BJP MPs.
In his speech, he also referred to Haryana agriculture minister O.P Dhankar’s ill-advised remark that “farmers committing suicide were cowards and criminals”. Mr Gandhi also sought to take potshots at the Prime Minister’s “Make in India” campaign, asking if farmers did not contribute to it? “When there was a hailstorm, the government did not help. State governments used to give bonus, farmers tolerated its non-payment,” Mr Gandhi claimed.
Mr Gandhi’s comments invited an angry rebuttal by food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who asked aloud where the Congress leader was when the farmers suffered from unseasonal rains and hailstorms.
“Have you gone to Amethi, your constituency,” Harsimrat Kaur Badal asked. After the House was adjourned, veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani was seen urging Mr Paswan and Ms Kaur to brief the media on the government’s response to farmers’ distress.
Later, speaking outside Parliament, Mr Gandhi wondered if the “Make in India” plan was only for five to 10 “friendly capitalists”. Sharing his experience on the train journey undertaken on Tuesday, Mr Gandhi recalled a small businessman asking him: “What is make in India? What is my role?”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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