AAP blames PM, backs June-16 stir

LEADERS LASH OUT AT MODI FOR FAILING ON PREPOLL PROMISE OF DEBT WAIVERS AND NOT IMPLEMENTING SWAMINATHAN PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced on Tuesday that it would back the pan-India farmers’ agitation slated for June 16, and hold a day-long convention in New Delhi the following day to plan its future course of action.

The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, a federation of 62 farmers’ bodies, has threatened to organise road blockades across the country on that day to seek debt waivers and remunerative prices for agricultural produce.

AAP leaders lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to fulfill the pre-poll promise of debt waivers for small farmers, and not implementing of the MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation that the support price for farm produce be 50% more than input costs.

The party screened video clips of Modi’s campaigns in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, where he is heard assuring farmers of various things.

“And now, when farmers want these promises fulfilled, they are being fired upon,” said senior AAP leader Gopal Rai. “Finance minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Centre will not fund debt waivers has exposed Modi’s lies.” AAP’s convention on June 17 will be attended by farmers from 20 states across the country.

The party recently decided to expand its rural base by backing farmers’ agitations in various parts of the country. Its volunteers held multiple protests against the Centre’s “anti-farmer policies” on June 10, and sent a delegation of leaders to meet the families of farmers killed in the Mandsaur firing.