‘Abuse me, but help Delhi farmers’: Shivraj Chouhan hits back at Atishi over Dawood remark

Days after Delhi Chief Minister Atishi’s remarks that “the condition of farmers has never been as bad as it was during the BJP’s reign and the party talking about farmers is like Dawood giving a sermon on non-violence,” Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday hit back, saying “call me Dawood or abuse me, but help Delhi farmers by implementing the Central schemes.”

After meeting a delegation of farmers from Delhi, Chouhan said, “Unase haath jodakar bol raha hoon kyonki mera svabhaav nahin hai kisee ko gaalee dena. main ye baat kah raha hoon keval isaka javaab do na aap aur javaab bhee mat do, keval ye karo, bahan, ki jo Bhaarat Sarakaar kee kisaan kalyaan kee yojanaayen unako aap dillee ke kisaanon ke lie laagoo karo. aap prastaav bhejo, ye paisa le jao aur kisaanon tak yojanaon ka laabh pahunchaon. ab isamen agar main ye kahata hoon aur aap mujhe kaheen Dawood kahatee ho, kaheen gaalee detee ho to isaka koee auchity nahin hai. main to phir praarthana karata hoon ki mujhe gaalee do, mujhe koee antar nahin padata, lekin kisaanon ko yojanaon ka laabh de do bahan. (I am requesting her [Atishi] with folded hands because it is not my nature to abuse anyone. I am saying this: just reply to this, or don’t even reply, just do this, sister – implement the farmer welfare schemes of Government of India for the farmers of Delhi. Send the proposal, take this money and provide the benefits of the schemes to the farmers. If I say this and you call me Dawood, abuse me, then there is no justification for it. I again request you, abuse me, it doesn’t make any difference to me, but give the benefits of the schemes to the farmers, sister.)”

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Chouhan’s reference to Dawood Ibrahim, the gangster, came days after Atishi’s remarks in response to his letter to her. On January 1, Chouhan had written a letter to Atishi, urging her to implement the Centre’s farm sector schemes in Delhi. Reacting to Chouhan’s letter, Atishi said on January 2 that “the condition of farmers has never been as bad as it was during the BJP’s reign and the party talking about farmers is like Dawood giving a sermon on non-violence.”

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“I will put in all my efforts for the interests of the farmers of Delhi; I will ensure that the farmers get their rights,” Chouhan told farmers during the interaction held at his official residence in Delhi. The interaction came just hours before the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Delhi Assembly elections.

Chouhan said that earlier, the farmers of Delhi had also told him about their problems, upon which he immediately wrote a letter to the Delhi Chief Minister.

Chouhan had announced that he would meet farmer organizations every Tuesday. The meeting with the Delhi-based farmers was part of this initiative. Chouhan has held such meetings with more than 15 farmer organizations so far, said an official.

During the meeting, one farmer told Chouhan that the farmers of Delhi, once considered the kings of India, have become the most backward in the country, despite three master plans implemented over the last 40-50 years.