Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday accused the BJP of reneging on its promise to fix MSP that will ensure 50 per cent profit to farmers and vowed to take up the issue in Punjab, in an apparent bid to woo the farming community.
AAP leader Ashish Khetan hit out at Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh over his reported remarks that the Centre will not be able to ensure 50 per cent profit over input cost to farmers.
“Radha Mohan Singh has said that the government will not be able to ensure 50 per cent profit over input cost to farmers. It is the first such official admission that PM’s promise in this regard was a lie,” Khetan told reporters in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached out to the farmers before the 2014 general election promising to fix the MSP (Minimum Support Price) of crops incorporating 50 per cent profit in farmers’ cost of production.
Khetan said no farmer would have voted for the BJP had the “admission of inability” had come then. He also quoted from the BJP’s election manifesto saying it was one of the major poll promises of the ruling party.
Khetan said the AAP will corner the BJP over this issue in Punjab and rest of the country where “farmers are caught in a debt trap and committing suicide”.
Punjab goes to polls in 2017 where AAP, Congress and BJP-SAD alliance are locked in a triangular contest.
(With inputs from PTI)
