Ajit leads the cane charge

Politicking over sugarcane pricing spilled outside Parliament on Thursday with agitating farmers from western Uttar Pradesh swarming Parliament Street...

Politicking over sugarcane pricing spilled outside Parliament on Thursday with agitating farmers from western Uttar Pradesh swarming Parliament Street and Jantar Mantar,and Opposition leaders cutting across the political divide making the most of it. BJPs Arun Jaitley,SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh,JDU chief Sharad Yadav,CPMs Basudeb Acharia,CPIs Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja and a couple of AIADMK MPs all shared the dais after the Lok Sabha was adjourned and attacked the UPA government for being anti-farmer.

Waving sugarcanes,the farmers had gathered under three bannersAjit Singh-led RLD,Bharatiya Kisan Union of Mahendra Singh Tikait and Rahstriya Kishan Mazdoor Sanghatan. It was,however,the RLD backed gathering which attracted the politicians.

With Ajit Singh threatening to block supplies to Delhi if the demands of the sugarcane farmers were not met,the gathered farmers too expressed aggression. The mills will not get sugarcane if we dont get the price. We will burn our cane instead of succumbing, said Shishpal Singh from Bijnore.

Sensing the anger among farmers,Amar Singh targeted Rahul Gandhi. Singh wondered whether Rahul had any idea about how sugarcane is grown. Rahul is very much concerned for poor. Instead of sleeping in the houses of the poor,he should see the root cause of problem. Poverty is not eradicated just by sleeping in their houses, he said.

We are not here for begging,we are here to demand our right price, thundered Rishipal Singh from Bharot in Baghpat who grows sugarcane in over 30 bighas. He is not willing to sell his cane at the Rs 130/quintal fixed by the Centre. The farmers said that though the mill owners were informally ready to pay a higher price,they want it on paper. Price should be mentioned on purchase slips. In 2007-08 we lost Rs 15 per quintal because the mills went to court and got the prices reduced citing various reasons, Rishipal said as others seconded.

So what is the price they want? Farmers said they can agree for a price less than the Rs 280 demanded by them but want it to be recorded on the purchase slips. We are ready to scale down but nothing below Rs 200/quintal is acceptable, said Uttam Kumar of Noorpur in Bijnore.

Farmers anger over the Congresss silence on the issue was papable. Rahul Gandhi is taking up a lot of issues relating to eastern UP. Why is he silent over the plight of sugarcane farmers from western UP? questioned Mahendra Singh from Baghpat. Politics was however the highlight of the gathering. Amar Singh coined the slogan: Samajwadi SP,Lokdal RLD ekta zindabad much to the discomfiture of Jaitley on the dias.

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Basking under the unexpected support from left and right parties,Ajit Singh told the farmers to disperse for the day but warned the Centre that if the FRP ordinance was not taken back,they will block everything reaching Delhi.

BJP eyes sweet UP rewards

NEW DELHI: With Ajit Singh of the RLDan NDA constituentleading the charge in the Lok Sabha demanding withdrawal of the new sugarcane regime,the BJP was left to keep up the tempo outside the House. If the Uttar Pradesh-based parties were trying to use the sugarcane issue to improve their political stock,BJP leaders think it is just the opportunity for them to come back into the reckoning in the state. However,this could not stop another,interesting,turn to the rivalry among second-generation BJP leaders. With the completion of his term as BJP chief,Rajnath Singh will be concentrating on home state UP a reason why he was among the most vocal on the issue through Thursday. On the other hand,his rival Arun Jaitley who was instrumental in sewing up an alliance with the RLD for the Lok Sabha elections ensured that Ajit Singh kept him,and not Rajnath,in the loop while drawing up the protest strategy.

SUMAN JHA