In a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government over handling of farmers’ issues, Samajwadi Party national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP government was subjecting farmers to hardship and they were bearing the brunt of the faulty policies of the government.

He emphasised that the BJP government’s policies, including rising debt and inflation, are proving detrimental to the farming community.

Yadav said that the BJP’s policies favoured the wealthy and were anti-farmer. He said that prominent industrialists took billions of rupees out of the country under the BJP government’s patronage and even enjoyed massive loan waivers.

“Conversely, in Uttar Pradesh, farmers are being subjected to aggressive loan recovery over mere thousands of rupees. The farmers are humiliated so much that many of them were forced to commit suicide,” the SP president said.

Yadav further criticised the BJP government for using bank employees to shame farmers under the pretext of loan recovery. He cited a recent incident in Gola Gokarannath in Lakhimpur Kheri district where an insensitive action by bank employees led to the tragic death of a Dalit farmer who had borrowed Rs 60,000 from the bank.

“It was reported that bank officials were pressuring the farmer to repay three lakh rupees, including interest. They held him in a jeep for hours, which ultimately resulted in the farmer’s untimely death. This incident follows suicides by several farmers in the Bundelkhand region due to mounting debt,” the SP chief said.

Yadav asserted that the BJP government has displayed a lack of empathy and sensitivity towards farmers. He pointed out that illegal electricity bill recoveries are being done out across the state, causing distress to farmers.

“While the government promises free electricity for irrigation, it simultaneously imposes unjustifiable penalties on farmers, leading to widespread discontent. The excessive use of FIRs further compounds the problems faced by farmers,” he said.

Yadav said that the BJP government had ignored and victimised the farmers. “The farming community feels deceived by the BJP’s hollow promises, as none of the assurances made over the past decade have been fulfilled, and farmers’ incomes have not doubled as promised,” he added.