Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress of not aiding the interests of farmers in the country.
The India-ASEAN free trade agreement initiated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in its second term had impacted the prospects of rubber farmers. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government failed to resolve the anti-farmer provisions in the agreement after coming to power, he said at an election campaign meeting held at the Perumbavoor municipal stadium on Friday in support of C. Raveendranath, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr. Vijayan alleged that the second UPA government did not implement the M.S. Swaminathan Commission report to solve the problems of farmers to help corporates. The Congress should explain why it failed to implement the recommendations of the commission, he said.
