Congress cheated farmers, used them as vote bank in past 70 years: PM Narendra Modi

Muktsar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a scathing attack on the Congress party, which, he alleged, made false promises and did nothing for farmers in the past 70 years.

Addressing a rally in Punjab's Malout, the PM said, ''In the last 70 years, most of the times the party which our farmers placed their faith in did not recognize their hard work. Only false promises were made to farmers, and the party only worked for the interest of one family.''

PM Modi also attacked the Congress party for not empowering the farmers and using them as vote bank only.

''Congress used farmers as their vote bank and the present Central government has worked hard to change that situation,'' PM said amid thunderous applause from the gathering. 

Congress and its allies are losing their sleep. They cannot stand the fact that farmers in the country are sleeping well, the PM said.

The PM also acknowledged the contribution of farmers from the state in making Indian an agrarian superpower.

''I bow my head in front of the farmers, they have broken all records in terms of agricultural production and for their hard work,'' the PM said.

''We promised to double farmers' income by 2022. We have been working towards that,'' PM Modi said.

''My government is trying to change the lives of farmers as well as soldiers through various schemes, the PM said adding, ''We are not going to step back from bringing out more plans for farmers.''  

''Ever since the NDA government took the historic decision of hike in MSP, the farmers are relieved, a big worry is gone. They are more confident of their produce now,'' said the PM.

Ever since the Govt took the historic MSP hike decision, farmers are relieved, a big worry is gone. They are more confident of their produce now: PM Modi in Punjab's Malout pic.twitter.com/PmG97wsxH8 — ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2018

PM Modi also expressed his gratitudes to the farmers who had gathered in large numbers to attend his rally. ''I am glad to see a large number of farmers in Malout today,''the PM said.

The PM made these remarks while addressing a huge congregation of farmers - Kisan Kalyan Rally - in Punjab's Muktsar district on Wednesday.

Today's rally was held days after the Centre announced a hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Kharif crops.

Today's rally was jointly organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Malout.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal and other important leaders were also present during the PM's rally.

On July 4, the Centre approved the proposal to hike MSP by 50 percent for 14 Kharif crops for the year 2018-19.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved the proposal made by Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2018 of hiking the support price by one-and-a-half times of the production cost for Kharif crops.

MSP is referred to a price at which the government buys crops from the farmers, to protect agriculture producers from fall in farm prices. 

It is to be noted that farmers across the country have been demanding a hike in the MSP regarding their crops and several opposition parties had attacked the Centre for ignoring the genuine concerns of the farmers.    

(With ANI inputs)