While scores of farmers have been protesting against the contentious farm laws along Delhi's border for months now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his eyes set on wooing West Bengal's farmers in view of the ongoing assembly elections in the state.
PM Modi, in an attempt to win over Bengal's farmers, had made a major announcement at a rally in Haldia this February. He said that if the BJP gets the opportunity to form the new government in the state, farmers would receive the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) benefits as his government would clear three years worth of arrears. The issue would also be taken up as a priority in the first cabinet meeting, he added.
Modi set a concrete deadline for the same on Saturday while speaking to farmers in Hooghly's Haripal and vowed that the funds would reach them before Durga Puja - the most auspicious event in West Bengal.
At the rally, PM Modi also asked government officials to make a list of the farmers eligible for the funds so that he could organise the distribution of the money on May 2, right after the poll results are declared, a report in The Telegraph said.
“…When Bengal’s BJP chief minister, Bengal’s BJP government will take the oath, I’ll surely attend that ceremony. I’ll come and tell the new chief minister that brother, I have to send this money from Delhi, please implement this fast in the first cabinet (meeting)…. And listen, every farmer of Bengal… will be getting the total arrears of Rs 18,000 in his bank account…. I’ll say that before Durga Puja, the money should reach the account of every farmer,” Modi said.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to small and marginal farmers, payable in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Following his remarks, a state BJP office-bearer said, “If the PM refers to things like first cabinet meeting and disbursement of funds before Puja, the message that we have won is strongly communicated to our workers. Equally, we hope this demoralises Trinamool workers".
Referring to the Singur movement of 2006-08 that forced Tata Motors to move out its proposed small car Nano's mother production unit from there, Modi told an election meeting in Haripal that the TMC used the place for political purpose and then left the people to fend for themselves.
“...After using Singur for political gain, these people (TMC) left it in darkness. Today, Singur neither has any industry, nor enough jobs and farmers are fed up with middlemen”, he said.
The scene of an aggressive movement led by Banerjee against forcible land acquisition by the then Left Front government for the 'Nano' project, Singur, along with Nandigram, had catapulted the street fighter TMC leader to power in West Bengal in 2011.
"Didi and her party's obstructionist mindset blocked several industrial, infrastructure and connectivity projects. I have never seen a party which takes pride in stopping industries and development," Modi said.
"We all know what happened in neighbouring Singur. They used it for furthering their politics and then left the people in limbo. Today, it has no industries and farmers are in distress," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)