Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday accused the Congress party of adopting double standards on the issue of farmers’ suicides.
Speaking to media persons here, Venkaiah Naidu said as per the data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), about 160,000 farmers committed suicide during the 10 years of Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre. “Neither the Congress president nor the Vice President bothered to visit them nor did undertake any Kisaan Padayatra then. Why they are shedding crocodile tears only now? Why not then? That’s the simple question of anybody’s understanding,” he said while criticising Rahul Gandhi.
Venkaiah Naidu said state ministers of Telangana and central ministers of NDA visited farmers who were in distress. “Where was the Congress Vice-President then?” he asked.
“During the Congress regime, around 2 lakh acres of farm land, mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana, was acquired from farmers and given to industries, businessmen and for SEZs at very nominal compensation. Now, when the BJP-led NDA government is providing four-times compensation and also a job per family, the Congress party is raising a hue and cry,” he said.
The Union Minister said that the farmer suicides took place in a large scale in the last one decade during the Congress rule but still it has audacity to criticize others. “During Congress regime, the compensation for crop loss was Rs. 120,000. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised it to Rs. 4 lakhs. You criticize that decision too. The Congress Vice-President needs to do homework before criticising others or need to change his script writers,” he said. (INN)