Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is addressing the Jan Aakrosh Yatra in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, said that the BJP-led state government is not giving the right price to the farmers for their crops.
Addressing the public meeting here, Rahul Gandhi said, “Go and ask the farmers of Chhattisgarh how much money they get for the paddy crop. What we promised, we completed it.”
“For the first time in the history of India, farmers are paying taxes. They implemented GST... Our government works for the poor and farmers…," said the senior Congress leader.
He alleged that around 18,000 farmers committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in 18 years of BJP rule in the state. “Madhya Pradesh is the epicenter of corruption in the country.”
“When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, Generals are there in the country, no one is able to answer it... After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census,” he added.
The Congress party is taking out ‘Jan Aakrosh Yatra’ from seven different regions across the state from September 19 covering 11,400 kilometres and nearly all the assembly constituencies.
Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go for the assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state and addressed a ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’, a mega congregation of BJP workers here in Bhopal on September 25.
The Prime Minister had criticized the Congress for keeping MP underdeveloped during its tenure in the state and the center.
“After independence, the Congress-ruled MP for several years. However, the misrule by the Congress government kept MP among the BIMARU states. During its tenure in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has taken the state to new heights with a new energy,” PM Modi had said.
Notably, for the last few weeks, the BJP has been taking out Jan Ashirwad Yatras, a mass-contact program, from five different places in the state. PM Modi addressed the ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ to mark the culmination of those yatras.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had won 114 seats against the BJP's 109 and the former formed government under Kamal Nath.
However, in March 2020 the Kamal Nath government fell after a rebellion by MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, paving the way for Shivraj Singh Chouhan to return as CM.
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