Politics over sugar crisis intensifies as parties blame each other for the on-going impasse between private sugar millers and state government over cane price though farmers have started staging protest demanding mills should start operation.
Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party, which is in the eye of storm has blamed Congress led UPA government for the present crisis. SP spokesperson and UP jail minister Rajendra Chaudhury said that the anti-farmer attitude of the Congress was the main reason for the present crisis in the state. 'Centre has refused to provide rebate to the sugar mills and it has created a deadlock. No private mill is now ready to start crushing,'' Chaudhury said in a statement issued here on Friday.
The state minister claimed that UP government has provided all the sops it can give to the sugar mills. "We cannot give anything more than this. Rebates on purchase tax and molasses have been given to them. The mills should now start crushing by first week of December," he said. Chaudhury also reacted sharply on the statement of Bajaj Group owner Shekhar Bajaj in which he said that they run the company for profit. ''It is unfortunate that he is doing politics and it would have been better if he had thought about the problems of the farmers rather than his profit,'' he stated.
Congress UP president Nirmal Khatri refuted these charges and blamed the SP Government for the present mess. "The government is insensitive towards farmers. It is doing politics over this sensitive issue," he said and added party workers would come on the streets and agitate if sugar mills do not start crushing by December 7.
State BJP president laxmikant Bajpai too criticised the UP government for the delay in start of the crushing season and alleged that the Samajwadi Party government was in nexus with the private sugar mill owners. Meanwhile, impasse over non-starting of sugarcane mills have led to violent protests across the state with farmers staging protest demanding re-opening of mills. In Balrampur sugar mill in Khiri security staff had to open fire on the cane farmers when they were protesting against suicide by a farmer. The cane farmers pelted stones at the sugar mills and demonstrated with the body of Satyapal Singh, who committed suicide.
Similar violence was also reported from Shamli district in west UP where activists of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) demonstrated in front of a sugar mills demanding the payment of dues and to start the crushing. The BKU president Naresh Tikait said that if by Saturday private sugar mills do not pay the dues of the cane farmers they would take control of the sugar stocked in the mills.
''If private mills are not interested in running their units, the state government should take over these mills and farmers would share the loss with the government," he said while addressing a gathering of farmers protesting outside the DM's office in Muzaffarnagar. Holding both the Samajwadi Party government of UP and the Congress led UPA government responsible for the farmers woes, Tikait said that import of raw sugar was one of the reason for fall of sugar price.
