The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused the newly appointed State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel of making false statement on paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh.
State BJP vice-president and spokesman Sachidananda Upasane said the allegation made by Baghel that Chief Minister Raman Singh has shifted his responsibility on the minimum support price of paddy by writing a letter to the Prime Minister is false and baseless. Everybody knows that is the Central Government which fixes minimum support price of paddy, he said.
The commitment of BJP towards farmers is evident from the fact that soon after taking the oath of office, the Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Prime Minister seeking a hike in the minimum support price to Rs 2100, he said. Charan Das Mahant, the former State Congress chief has so far not taken any initiative even though he is the Union Minister of State for Agriculture. By not doing anything in this regard, he is rather doing injustice with the state’s farmers, he said.
In the recently concluded Assembly election, the Congress leaders had attempted to provoke the farmers and were assuring that they will get minimum support price of Rs 2000 if the Congress comes to power in the state. Now it was clear that the Congress had made the promise only for the election, he alleged. Upasane said the BJP in its election promise had not only announced a bonus of Rs 300 for a quintal of paddy that the government had purchased from the farmers but also started distributing it. He urged Baghel to play the role of a constructive opposition and refrain from making false and baseless allegation.