The Congress on Wednesday said the decision to increase the minimum support price (MSP) was a desperate bid by the Modi government to woo crisis-hit farmers and suspected that the move could be a precursor to advancing the Lok Sabha elections.
“Staring at an imminent defeat, the Modi government has once again given an ‘Electoral Lollypop’ of this 'MSP' to the farmers of India,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.
Surjewala claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interaction with farmers on June 20, had promised that the MSP will be calculated on the basis of comprehensive cost plus 50% profit. “But Wednesday's announcement brazenly backtracks on that,” he said.
A senior Congress leader said after the MSP announcement, the Modi government may advance elections to derive maximum electoral benefit from this move.
He said the next elections could be held over a three-month period with a number of Assembly elections overlapping with the initial and later phase to fulfill the prime minister's wishes of having simultaneous elections.
“In May 2014, using false promises Prime Minister Modi gained the support of the farmers, but in the last four years, farmers did not receive the right MSP,” Surjewala alleged.
He said the farmers have neither got the MSP nor a loan waiver, even as prices of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, power and diesel have risen considerably.
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