BJP busy in poll campaign, farmers not priority: RLD

The BJP is busy campaigning for Hyderabad civic polls which is why the date for talks with farmers protesting the Central agri laws have been pushed to December, showing that farmers are not a priority for the BJP and only elections matter to it, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alleged on Sunday.

Launching a scathing attack against the government over the ongoing protest by farmers, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary accused the BJP dispensation at the Centre of wanting to suppress the voice of the farmers with "brute force".

Rejecting the Centre's offer to hold talks once they move to the Burari ground, the farmers who are protesting at Delhi's borders for four days against the new farm laws on Sunday said they will not accept any conditional dialogue and threatened to block all five entry points to the national capital.

"Farmers across the country are demonstrating against the anti-farmer policies of the Modi government. But instead of dialogue in democracy, the central government wants to suppress the voice of the farmers with the crude use of force and on the strength of sticks," Chaudhary said in a statement.

"By using sticks, water canons and tear gas shells at the farmers coming to Delhi to protest peacefully against the new 'anti-farmer' laws, the BJP government has once again shown its anti-farmer mindset," he claimed.

Over some people, chiefly on social media, alleging a link between the protestors and a separatist movement, Chaudhary said the government should leave its "dictatorial attitude" and listen to the farmers instead of seeing them as “terrorists”.

"The Rashtriya Lok Dal salutes the bravery and passion of the farmers of Punjab and Haryana who have reached Delhi braving the water canons, barbed wires, tear gas shells and batons of the Modi government and the BJP-led government of Haryana," he said.

"Busy in campaigning in Hyderabad, the Modi government has delayed the date for talks with farmers to December 3. This shows that farmers are not a priority for the BJP but only elections and votes matter to it," Chaudhary alleged.

The RLD chief also highlighted that the farmers in western Uttar Pradesh were "worried" over the minimum support price (MSP) of crops, among other issues.

"Today, the plight of farmers of western Uttar Pradesh is not hidden from anyone because of dues in sugarcane payments, increase in electricity prices and rising cost of cultivation,” he said.

"Farmers are worried about the minimum support price and they are not getting fair prices for their produce in markets," Chaudhary said.

He, however, said that the Centre would give a seriously hearing to the farmers over the new farm reform laws and resolve all their issues.

"The country will never develop with communal polarization. Ultimately, the real issues related to farmers and villages will have to be resolved on priority," he added.