Varun Gandhi asks PM Modi to accept farmers' MSP demand

In a letter, Gandhi sought action against the Union minister responsible for Lakhimpur Kheri violence

BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept the farmers' demand for a statutory minimum support price (MSP) guarantee for their crops, as farmers have refused to end their protests without the same. In a letter to the prime minister, the MP from Pilibhit in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh also asked Modi to take action against Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra 'Teni', without naming him directly in the letter, for the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.

"This movement will not end without the resolution of this demand and there will be widespread anger amongst them, which will continue to emerge in one form or the other. Therefore, it is very important for the farmers to get the statutory guarantee of MSP for their crops," he wrote.

Also read — Decoding farmers' demand of a legally guaranteed MSP

Gandhi thanked Modi for repealing the three farm laws. "If this decision had been taken earlier, innocent lives would not have been lost," he said, a day after Modi announced the rollback of the three farm laws.

He said the legal binding on MSP will give a sizeable economic security cover to farmers. "My humble request to you is that the government must immediately accept this demand in the interests of our nation."

Gandhi described the Lakhimpur incident, in which several farmers were killed, as heartbreaking and a "blemish on our democracy".

"...It is my request to you that appropriately strict action is taken against the Union Minister who has been connected to this incident, so that there is a fair enquiry," Gandhi said, referring to 'Teni' without taking his name.

He also demanded Rs 1 crore compensation to families of farmers martyred in this movement and that all "politically motivated false" FIRs against the protesting farmers be quashed.

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