JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee today strongly criticised the Central Bank of India (BJP) Government for having betrayed farmers’ confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 assurance and promise to give legal protection for MSP in accordance with Swaminathan’s recommendations. The Committee also offered the farmers full support and reiterated the Congress’s pledge to meet their demands upon assuming power. The Congress Party strongly condemned the government for using drone attacks to prevent farmers from marching, saying that it was like a government at war with the nation’s farmers, who are known as “Anndatas.” The Congress Party expressed grave concern over the atrocities being committed against the agitated farmers who are seeking the fulfilment of Modi Ji’s guarantee to them before the 2014 general elections and again three years prior. Speaking to reporters at the PCC office here, JKPCC president Vikar Rasool Wani said that the horrific images of the BJP-ruled Haryana State police using cruel and inhumane tactics to stop farmers’ marches have been witnessed by the entire nation. The drones are being used to launch tear gas shells. Why the BJP governments in Haryana and the Central Governments felt the need to take such drastic measures while farmers were peacefully protesting is shocking. Additionally, they have a history of maintaining calm during their one-year sit-in on the outskirts of Delhi, during which time there was not a single unpleasant event in spite of all provocations. That was two years ago. Surrounded by general secretaries Narinder Gupta (Org), TS Tony, senior vice president of the PCC and chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, vice president Vinod Sharma, and JKPCC president Narinder Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Modi are retreating from their many pre-2014 commitments. As the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general election, Modi had personally pledged to deliver the MSP in accordance with the suggestions of the late MS Swaminathan, to whom the government had just bestowed the Bharat Ratna. It would have been an equally tremendous honour to him if the BJP had followed through on his proposals. Two years ago, the Prime Minister pledged to take legal guarantees for the MSP into consideration when the nation’s farmers held a protest dharna on the outskirts of Delhi for around a year. Nothing has transpired in the last two years. The same farmers made the decision to march in the direction of the nation’s capital to remind Modi of his pledge. However, they are being stopped and forbidden from travelling in the direction of the city. He said that on Tuesday at Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh, the Congress party made a historic announcement by pledging to offer a legal guarantee for MSP for a range of crops. Farmers all around the nation have been waiting a long time for this. In addition, the Congress party pledged to offer a legal guarantee for MSP in its resolution on agriculture at the Raipur Session. He continued, “The party has promised the farming community that it will be the top priority of the INDIA Government when it takes office following the general elections in 2024.” By 2022, Modi pledged to quadruple the income of farmers. After accounting for numerous factors including inflation and other input prices, farmers’ income has decreased during the past ten years. Under Modi’s government, the number of farmer suicides has increased compared to previous times. It’s the highest price increase in history. The cost of a petrol cylinder has increased by over 100%. Although the price of crude oil on the global market is currently much lower than it was in 2014, the prices of petrol and diesel have also doubled.
