Congress chief: Farmers in distress, committing suicide

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 20 

Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh has expressed concern over several cases of farmer suicides in the state.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun on Sunday, Pritam Singh said the state BJP government had failed to address the concerns of farmers in the state. He claimed that as many as nine farmers had committed suicide in the state ever since the BJP government has come to power. The state government seems to have lost all sensitivity vis-à-vis farmers.

“The farmers in the state are in distress. There have been several incidents of farmers suicide in the state. But despite BJP governments both at the Centre and the state, the issue has been completely sidelined in Uttarakhand”, Pritam Singh pointed out. He asserted that the Uttarakhand Congress would shortly launch a statewide agitation against the state government’s failure to address the problem. 

He said farmers in Uttarakhand were not getting the right price for their produce and were facing hardships of the repayment of debt. He said the man-animal conflict was another challenge for farmers, which was peculiar for Uttarakhand. He said several farmers in the hilly areas had to abandon agriculture as wildlife like monkey and wild pigs were destroying their crops. 

Responding to queries, Pritam Singh hoped for a big victory for the Congress in Tharali bypoll, polling for which will take place on May 28. He said the people of the state were completely disenchanted with the state BJP government and this resentment would be reflected in the Tharali bypoll outcome.

He also held that the Modi government tried to murder the democracy in Karnataka and now stood exposed before the people. He said the BJP had a tendency of sabotaging people’s verdict. He also held that the BJP would routed in the coming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.