Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday termed US President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to India as a "campaign" for the presidential polls in that country.
He said Trump is seeking votes of Indians settled in the US by visiting India.
Replying to a query on preparations for the US President's visit to Ahmedabad and Delhi on February 24-25, Baghel said, "I think he (Trump) is coming (to India) for election campaign. A large number of Indian (origin) people live there (in America) and (he is coming) to get their votes. Otherwise, what does it mean to visit (India) in the midst of (US Presidential) elections".
Baghel, who has returned from the US tour, said he invited industrialists and investors to visit Chhattisgarh.
He slammed opposition BJP's protests against alleged irregularities in procurement of paddy and the saffron party's demand for extending the date of the process, which concluded on February 20.
"The main opposition party is not agitating for farmers but for the middlemen who failed to dispose of their paddy. The BJP has been making a hue and cry for the middlemen and not for farmers. The state has set a record of the highest paddy procurement this year, as about 83 lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured," the CM told reporters at the airport here.
Baghel claimed agriculture has become a "profitable business" in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh now.
"In comparison to the previous year, 2.50 lakh more farmers have sold paddy in the state which indicates that people are turning towards agriculture as it has become a profitable business," he added.
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