ImageCourtesy: indianexpress.com
The Congress has accused the BJP government yet again. The recent demands of the party are that the Agricultural Minister Radha Mohan Singh should apologise to the whole nation for ‘misleading’ it. Singh claims that crop losses were revised from 180 lakh hectares to 80 lakh hectares, whereas the Congress claims that losses were even higher. The crop losses were decided on the final feedback of states to the Prime Minister in a video chat. Congress has mulled a breach of privilege motion against Singh.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Spokesman Shakeel Ahmed claims that the damage figures were revised to 80 lakh hectares whereas the initial estimate was of 180 lakh hectare. It was based on nothing but just a telephonic feedback. He presented press statements of the agriculture ministry to disprove Radha Singh. He said,”The minister’s statement is making the PM a complicit party to this pathetic exercise of misleading the country.”
“The press release also reflects that various states had submitted a ‘Memorandum of Loss’ to the agriculture ministry in writing after assessment of damage and that the Centre had sent senior officials to seven big states for an assessment of damage,” Ahmed said.
According to the press release of March 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a video-conference with states on March 23. The estimated crop loss was depressed from 181 lakh hectares to 106 lakh hectares.
“Even as debate on acute agrarian crisis continues in Parliament and outside, the Government, the PM and his ministers are constantly and unabashedly misleading the nation and duping the farmers. The agriculture minister intentionally, knowingly and deliberately misled Lok Sabha and the entire country,” Ahmed added.
Radha Singh fended off Rahul Gandhi’s accusation during the debate in the Lok Sabha which was held on Monday. She said that the government had reduced the figures only on the basis of what the states had claimed and not the Centre.
The Congress contradicted by saying that the losses were even higher than the estimated 180 lakh hectares. The Central and Western part of India was completely destroyed by the untimely hailstorms and rains in March.
Tags: BJP Congress Radha Mohan Singh
