The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) president Badgalpura Nagendra said here on Friday, March 22, that the farmers outfit will campaign against the BJP to ensure its defeat.
Speaking to media persons in the city, Mr. Nagendra said that the BJP-led NDA came to power 10 years ago with the promise of creating 2 crore jobs a year, doubling farmers’ income, and reigning in price rise. But 10 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen roll out of policies that were ‘’anti-farmers and anti-labour’’, he added.
The coming election is important for the working class and the farmers and the KRRS will launch a campaign to ‘’oust BJP and save farming community,’’ said Mr. Nagendra.
He alleged that the number of farmers committing suicide had increased under the Modi government and claimed that more than 1 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the last 10 years alone. The KRRS will distribute leaflets and pamphlets highlighting the ‘’anti farmers’’ policies of the government in rural areas, Mr. Nagendra added.
He drew attention to the farmers’ agitation in Delhi which lasted for one year and said that though Prime Minister Modi withdrew the three contentious farm laws under duress, nothing was done to meet other farmers’ demand including enacting a law making Minimum Support Price for agricultural produce, compulsory.
Though Mr. Modi had promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022, what has doubled in the interim is the cost of production, said Mr. Nagendra. Similarly, the BJP failed to announce a loan waiver for the farmers to bail them out of financial distress while more than ₹20 lakh crore owed by the industrialists, was written off as bad debt, he alleged.
The KRRS will campaign against the BJP but will not try to influence the farmers to vote for any specific political party, said Mr. Nagendra. The KRRS will also harness social media to reach out to its constituency comprising farmers, he added.
