Debt-ridden Raj farmers weren’t allowed to participate in PM’s video conference: Sachin Pilot

Terming the video conference as an attempt to mislead the farmers of Rajasthan, which goes to polls later this year, Pilot said only a handful of government schemes beneficiaries were allowed to talk to Modi.

The debt-ridden farmers were not even allowed to participate, Sachin Pilot alleged. (File photo)

Rajasthan Congress Chief Sachin Pilot Wednesday alleged that only beneficiaries of government schemes from the state were allowed to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his video conference with farmers across the country earlier in the day. Modi spoke to farmers on developments and advancements in the agriculture sector as well as the issues concerning them. Terming the video conference as an attempt to mislead the farmers of Rajasthan, which goes to polls later this year, Pilot said only a handful of government schemes beneficiaries were allowed to talk to Modi.

The debt-ridden farmers were not even allowed to participate, he alleged.

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PM Modi rubbed salt on the wounds of the families of farmers who have committed suicide by interacting with the beneficiaries of government schemes, he added BJP government believes in the politics of showing-off and lacks sensitivity in resolving the real issues of farmers, he said.

The pilot also targeted the Vasundhara Raje government in the state and said that the chief minister, in the last four years, ignored the plight of debt-ridden farmers forcing several of them to commit suicide. Despite bumper garlic produce, the state government did not make ample arrangements to procure the crop, which left the farmers disappointed and forced seven of them to end their lives, the Congress leader said.

Farmers were bearing the brunt of lack of coordination between the Centre and the state government, he said. The pilot also slammed the Modi government for failing to provide loans to the desert state during the devastating floods last year.

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