Bhopal, Dec 16 (PTI) Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday accused the BJP government of indulging in "anti-farmer" policies, and said the ruling party's election manifesto proved to be a "bundle
of lies".
Talking to reporters, senior Congress MLA and former state agriculture minister Sachin Yadav said the BJP government breaks promises, loots farmers, and it works for the benefit of companies and middlemen.
The BJP's election manifesto proved to be a bundle of lies for farmers, he said.
"The BJP promised farmers 10 hours of uninterrupted electricity, procurement of soybean as per the minimum support price (MSP). It had also said its government would procure wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal and paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal," Yadav said.
But in reality, there are plenty of unannounced power cuts in rural areas, government procurement of soybean has stopped in 2025, and both the declared price and purchase guarantee of wheat are missing, he alleged.
Farmers are facing a tough time due to the fertiliser crisis in both the rabi and kharif crops. To hide the shortage of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, it was claimed that it would render the land barren, he said.
Yadav alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to destroy the mandi (market) system in the state.
"The Mandi Board owes Rs 1,700 crore to the state government, and employees are not receiving their salaries on time. Of the 259 mandis in the state, 150 do not have secretaries. Each secretary is in charge of four to five mandis, and the distance of their workplace is an average of 100 kilometers, he said.
"Despite such a dire situation, the government demanded additional Rs 1,500 crore from the Mandi Board. Agriculture Minister Aidal Singh Kansana himself has opposed this...This is a conspiracy to financially cripple the mandi system," he said.
Onion farmers are not even getting a price of two rupees per kg and are forced to throw away their crops due to inability to recover even tractor trolley fares, Yadav alleged.
The banana farmers in Burhanpur are similarly suffering from not receiving a fair market price for their crop, while the government has deliberately excluded bananas from crop insurance, a policy injustice to thousands of farmers in Burhanpur, he said.
Although the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh under Kamal Nath's leadership lasted for a year and a half, farmers enjoyed security, respect, and stability during that period, according to Yadav.
"Under the Congress government's 'Jai Kisan Rin (loan) Mukti Yojana', crop loans up to two lakh rupees were waived for farmers and electricity bills up to ten horsepower were halved. Under 'Shuddh Ke Liye Yuddh' (war for purity) campaign, strict action was taken against counterfeit fertilisers and seeds," he said. PTI MAS NP
