NDA policies to blame for farmers' woes: Ashok Chavan

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Thursday blamed the “wrong policies” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for farm crisis in the state. He also said that the grand alliance of Opposition parties will dislodge the anti-farmer state government.

“Farmers consumed poison, hanged themselves and even lit their own pyres. This has never happened earlier, which reflects the gravity of the situation. But the government is not even ready to recognise this,” said Mr Chavan while addressing media on Thursday.  

The former chief minister said that the Congress was very clear that loan waiver was a short-term proposal, which needed to be implemented if required. Mr Chavan added that long-term policies for Minimum Support Price (MSP), input cost of fertilisers, seeds, crop insurance, climatic conditions have been worked out by the party in the states, which went to polls recently, and the assurances will be implemented in Mahar-ashtra as well. “What was the need to import sugar from Pakistan? Due to this decision the prices of sugar here crashed. The wrong policies of the NDA government have been hurting farmers,” said Mr Chavan.

“There is a requirement of a dynamic policy, which needs to be addressed on a daily basis to empower far-mers economically,” he added.

He also claimed that the BJP’s success in local bodies polls was not a measure for the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. “This state government is the most corrupt. It has poured money into the local bodies poll campaign. This was not a level-playing field. For the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, our priority is choosing the right candidates at right places and getting the right alliances,” he said.