Fresh from a tour of Punjab’s RsMandis,Rs Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lok Sabha and charged that his Government’s policies are responsible for “the plight of farmers,” a charge strongly rebutted by two of the Union Ministers. Defending the Modi Government, a Minister described the Congress MP’s Kedarnath visit a “drama” and questioned his absence from the country “when unseasonal rains” had “destroyed” farmers crop.   

Amid heavy protests from the BJP and its ally Shrimoni Akali Dal (the ruling party in Punjab), Rahul also took a swipe at the PM’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, questioning whether farmers are not contributing in providing food for the entire country. Rahul accused the Government of not procuring farmers’ produce, a charge rubbished by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who hit back by suggesting that the Congress leader was trying to become a “martyr by cutting a finger”.

Rahul, who had been courting farmers’ issue on a regular basis after his 58-day sabbatical, sought to take a dig at Modi  for his frequent foreign travels and asked him to visit “mandis” (wholesale grain markets) to understand the issues bedeviling country’s farmers. Raising the issue of farmers during Zero Hour, Rahul said he wanted to apprise the House of the pain and problems of the state’s farmers whose produce is lying in mandis and is not being procured by the Government.

“Wo Mandi main ro rahein hain…,” said Rahul and went on to  refer to a controversial statement of Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar whom he quoted as saying that farmers  who killed self were “cowards”. “Our PM is on a tour of India right now. He has come here for some days. He should go to Punjab for sometime and meet the farmers and talk to them in the mandis (granaries)”, he said, triggering protests from the BJP members. “When there was hailstorm, the Government did not help. The State Governments used to give bonus, farmers tolerated its non-payment. Farmers were lathicharged when they asked for fertiliser.

Now their produce is not being lifted from mandis,” he said. Soon after Rahul finished with his brief statement, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur, MP from Punjab, was allowed by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to make her intervention which was protested by Congress and AAP members who trooped into the well of the house. They said usually Zero Hour does not involve a response from the Government.

In an aggressive response, Kaur, daughter-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, said the BJP-SAD Government had 10 days ago decided to give full MSP (Minimum Support Price) to farmers in the State and procure full grains with farmers. She asked where was Rahul when crops were damaged by the unseasonal rains. The Minister questioned Rahul on his visit to Punjab to assess farmers’ condition, asking why he had not toured his own constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The comment led to protests from the Opposition benches who sought the Speaker to expunge the comment (with a reference to Amethi).

Soon after Kaur’s reaction, Paswan took the charge and asserted the Government is purchasing each and every grain from farmers. He insisted that several decisions have been taken for the welfare of farmers which had not happened in the past 10 years of the UPA.