Don’t ignore farmers’ plight: Rahul to Modi and Badal
Friday, 12/06/2015
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New Delh: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to “ignore” the plight of farmers and condoled the death of farmer Surjit Singh whom he had earlier met. “Farmers in our country are in deep distress. I urge the Modi-Badal Govt to take action and not continue to ignore their plight,” he tweeted. “Extremely sad to hear of the death of Sardar Surjit Singh who I met when I visited Punjab. My deepest condolences to his family,” the Congress said in another tweet.
His tweets came a day after the debt-stressed farmer from Fatehgarh Sahib, who had told Rahul about agrarian problems during their meeting in April, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance. The family of 60-year-old Singh, a resident of Dadumajra village, claimed that his debt was mounting and he was unable to pay back the loan from bank and others. Singh had taken a loan of Rs 10 lakh from bank and other persons but could not repay, they claimed. Singh had met Rahul during his Sirhind grain market visit.
According to the state Congress leaders, Singh had briefed Rahul about the problems faced by Punjab farmers that included problems in selling their paddy and famers committing suicide. Rahul had after his recent Punjab visit raised the issue of farmers in the Lok Sabha. Rahul, who had taken a padyatra to meet farmers in Vidarbha and Telangana region, will be on a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh from June 15 to interact with farmers.
