Congress’s Rana Gurjeet Singh appeals to Malwa farmers to grow maize, cotton; vows to pay them more than MSP

Interestingly, Malwa does not grow maize but he still visited the districts with the appeal, also asking them to grow cotton as well because the area under cotton fell to around 98,000 hectares last year, a record low. Singh also demanded that the Bollgard-III variety be released soon for farmers.

“I get maize from Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, or even from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for my ethanol plant but why not from Punjab’s farmers? If they will get MSP for that crop, they will happily grow it and our waters will be saved. So getting maize for my industry is not the priority but saving Punjab’s water is my mission now, Singh said.

Around 5,000 farmers attended his event in Muktsar on Monday where maize was presented as an alternate crop. The event, titled ‘Navi Soch Nava Punjab’ was also attended by former Muktsar MLA Karan Kaur Brar.

The 72-year-old said, “I have credibility as an industrialist and politician. Hence, I am sure people will listen to my appeal. Things will change gradually, the results will not be visible overnight.”

The Congress leader won has been elected to the state Assembly from Kapurthala in 2002, 2012, 2017 and 2022. He was also an MP from Jalandhar during 2004-2009.  Known for speaking his mind, Rana Gurjeet Singh was made a Cabinet minister in 2017 but he had to resign in January 2018 following allegations that his employees had taken part in the bidding for sand mining sites in May 2017. In September 2021, however, he was re-inducted into the Cabinet when Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in as the chief minister.

Rana Gurjeet Singh had first visited Bathinda on February 23 and later in the Vidhan Sabha session his son and Sultanpuri Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh had announced that he will buy maize on MSP..afterwards..the father-son duo even visited Mansa and on March 10 he visited Muktsar in the morning and in Abohar and Fazilka in the evening.

He has his sugar Mills as well and he claimed that the farmers who grow sugar for him always get value of their crop on time and are connected with him.

Area under maize

In 2024-25, the area under maize cultivation in Punjab was 1,03,624 hectares – a decline of over 82 per cent in 50 years from the 5,77,000 hectares in 1975-76. From 2005-06, when the area was 1,49,000 hectares, a decline of 20 per cent has been reported.

Maize sowing is done from mid-June and harvesting is done in September-end, similar to the paddy cycle. “Last year, I got around 10 acres of maize sown in Arniwala block of Jalalabad in September which was not conducive for sowing but still we got 22 quintals per acre. If sown at the right time, we can get up to 30 quintals per acre,” he said.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s criticism

Despite Rana Gurjeet Singh’s claims that he has no political motive in the effort, Congress MLA from Bholath in Kapurthala, Sukhpal Singh Khaira took to X on Tuesday and listed why he disagreed on the matter.

Khaira said Singh’s model “supports the BJP  govt proposal to implement Private Marketing of crops as proposed in one of their 3 black laws leading to #FarmersProtest in 2021. As this is exactly the Bjp-Adani model of Private Mandikaran.”

He also asked why Singh started this personal campaign in Punjab at a time when the state Congress is gearing up to fight the 2027 elections.

Khaira added, “Is it by any chance on the asking of BJP to create confusion in the Congress rank and file especially after the recent Income Tax raids & SEBI order penalizing him for 63 Crores and its allegations of cheating share holders to the tune of 600 Crores in stock market by his companies? Is he under their pressure?”

The Bholath MLA said that although Sing promises MSP on maize, “why hasn’t his newly acquired Phagwara Sugar Mill not paid 27.74 Crores cane arrears due to farmers since 2021-22 apart from Beetroot crop arrears by his industry?”

Khaira also sought to know if Singh had discussed the issue at a party platform, pointing out that he claims to have retired from the business and that his family looks after it. “Because if it’s his personal family business program his sons who control business could have undertaken this campaign. And why has he chosen Malwa for this campaign bcoz normally Maize is a Doaba centric crop,” Khaira posted.

Besides, the Congress leader wondered why Singh has “never opposed Bhagwant Mann or BJP govt’s” and asked if it was because of his vast business interests that extends across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to grow which he would need government support.