Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress holds protest

New Delhi  :  Hundreds of workers affiliated to Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress (KKMC) held a protest here against "anti-farmer" policies of the BJP government and said the agitations would continue.

The KKMC, farmers' wing of Congress party, said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed in fulfilling the promises he made before 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The "Jawab Do, Hisab Do" rally at Parliament Street saw participation of several Congress leaders including former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, party's Uttar Pradesh chief Raj Babbar, national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

KKMC chairman and ex Member of Parliament Nana Patole called Modi "the biggest liar Prime Minister in the history of India" for failing to ensure remunerative crop prices, affordable diesel prices, and crop loan waiver.

"Has the Modi government kept its promises? It has not given the MSP (Minimum Support Price) as per Swaminathan Committee's recommendations. It has even failed to keep diesel and petrol prices in check," Patole told the gathering. 

He also called Modi government "pro-corporate" as it waived loans worth Rs3.13 lakh crore taken by business companies.

"However, it has no money to waive farm loan. It proves that the government is anti-farmer and pro-corporate," he said.

Among the protestors was Kaluram Sharma, a farmer from poll-bound Rajasthan, who said fall in prices of milk had forced him to come to the national capital.

"Milk prices have fallen drastically and the state government is doing nothing to address the problem. In addition, high diesel prices have added to our woes," Sharma said.

He said there was huge farm distress in the state, which may translate into the defeat of the BJP in the Assembly elections to be held in December.