Farmers feel abandoned, says Rahul Gandhi in Vidharbha

Vidharba: Stepping up the attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused it of "abandoning" farmers at a time when the country is faced with an agrarian crisis, and backing "crony capitalists".

Setting off on his day-long 'padyatra'(foot march) through the affected villages of the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, he told reporters, "The situation is very disturbing. There is a feeling of abandonment. The role of the Government is to give a helping hand to the people when they suffer. "But the governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre have let them down."

"The farmers have complained that they have been deprived of the bonus by the BJP government across the country. This government is for a few crony capitalists and has no interest in protecting the farmers, the poor man, and labourers," the Congress Vice President, just back from a sudden tour of Punjab where he met distressed farmers, said.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "This is not a government that stands for farmers, workers and small businessman but this is a government for big business interests. The situation is not good for the farming community, which I had realised after meeting the families of farmers who have committed suicide earlier in this cotton belt," he said.

For the second consecutive day, Rahul drew on a controversial comment by Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar that farmers committing suicide were "cowards" and "criminals", to target the NDA government.

Farmers were futher "ridiculed" with remarks by the Union Agriculture Minister in Parliament that only three farmers have committed suicide, he said.

Rahul, who set out his 'sanvad yatra' early in the morning in Amaravati district,interacted with the farmers at the villages he travelled and many of them narrated their woes.

Some of them told him that insurance companies were engaging in fraud and the requisite compensation was not paid to them for crop loss.

Earlier, on the way to Gunji, people were seen lined up on roads at Kondhali and Talegaon villages to greet the Congress leader. Rahul stopped at Talegaon for some time, before proceeding to Gunji.

Rahul spoke to the people who greeted him and sought to know their problems and the issues affecting them. He will be visiting five villages between Gunji to Ramgaon and will meet the farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rain. He is accompanied by MPCC president Ashok Chavan and senior state Congress leaders.

Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and Amravati division in Vidarbha region has witnessed many suicide cases of farmers this year.

Ahead of his visit, a farmer, Gajanan Sheshrao Khongal, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in Morshi tehsil of the district on Tuesday.

In Gunji, Rahul met family members of farmers Nilesh Walke and Ambadas Vahile who had committed suicide recently.

Gunji, with a population of 1,200 people, was the first stop in the 'padyatra' undertaken by the Congress scion where he also met a group of children from orphanges and interacted with them briefly.

Subsequently, Rahul marched to Shahpur village, another suicide-prone area, five kms from Gunji in Amravati district, which is represented by Virendra Jagtap of Congress in the Maharashtra Assembly.