Days after prodding Chouhan on farmers, Dhankhar’s praise: ‘Will be their ladla’

During Question Hour, refers to scheme launched in MP when Chouhan was CM

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan on farmers, Jagdeep Dhankhar, ICAR-CIRCOT, Indian express news, current affairs

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar with Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kiren Rijiju, MoS Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan at Parliament House. PTI

Three days after he publicly questioned Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan on the promise made to farmers, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Friday, praised the former Madhya Pradesh CM, saying he would become the “ladla” (darling) of farmers.

While addressing the centenary of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (ICAR-CIRCOT) in Mumbai on Tuesday, Dhankhar asked the Minister if a promise was made to agitating farmers and if so, why it had not been fulfilled. Chouhan, who was on stage with Dhankhar, had spoken before him.

During Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, when Chouhan was answering questions pertaining to his ministry, Dhankhar referred to the Mumbai event. “The Minister was with me, on the way there and back. I told the Minister, I am assured that the man who is identified with ‘ladli’, will now become the ‘ladla’ of farmers. The energetic Minister, true to his name Shivraj, will do it,” Dhankhar said, referring to the Ladli Behna Scheme started by Chouhan’s government in Madhya Pradesh.

Over the past week, Dhankhar has spoken about the issues faced by farmers, who have been protesting at the borders of Delhi. While speaking at an event in Delhi on Sunday, the V-P said: “How can we sleep when the problems of farmers are not being solved quickly… The problems of farmers should be resolved at a fast pace. If the farmers are in trouble, it is a great loss to the country’s pride and this happens mostly because we keep our voice to ourselves.”

On Tuesday, he asked why there had been no dialogue with farmers and why the promise made to them had not been met yet, in an apparent reference to the farmers demand of a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Before Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Chouhan, accompanied by other ministers, called on the Chairman in his office. The V-P office shared a photo on social media of a smiling Dhankhar shaking Chouhan’s hand during the meeting.

Chouhan told the House during Question Hour that the government would buy produce at the MSP, while hitting out at the Congress for not doing so when it was in power. “We have bought farmers’ produce on MSP and even now, we will buy the entire produce,” he said, in response to a question from Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.

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In a post on X, Ramesh said: “Farmers are marching to Parliament today. Their protests received a huge booster dose from no less a person than the Vice President and Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha himself,” referring to the V-P’s remarks in Mumbai.

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