Every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Uttar Pradesh sugarcane growers, he makes it a point to remind them of its bitter taste at the hands of previous Congress and SP governments. But now it's a thing of the past with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the helm in the state, the PM hastens to add.
At Pilibhit on Tuesday, while wooing the sugarcane cultivators, Modi claimed that sugarcane farmers were made to wait endlessly for their dues when the Congress and Samajwadi Party were in power but Chief Minister Adityanath worked diligently from the day he took office to solve their problems.
Addressing an election rally, he said the local farmers would greatly benefit from his government's push for ethanol blending. He also talked about the use of drones in agriculture. "Our youngsters will make drones, and village women will become drone pilots," the prime minister said, adding that there would be three crore 'lakhpati didis' in villages. The Lakhpati Didi scheme is aimed at training women in self-help groups so that they can earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum.
The prime minister said the Adityanath government has paid out more money to sugarcane farmers in the last seven years than the entire amount they received during the Congress, SP and BSP terms in the state. "No one knows better than you how sugarcane farmers were made to wait endlessly for their own money during the rule of the Congress and Samajwadi Party. The BJP government worked with full strength to minimise the problems of sugarcane farmers and Yogi ji took several steps from day one itself," Modi said.
Referring to black marketing of urea in the past, he said, "Pilibhit and this region is known for farming. You might be remembering the condition of farmers 10 years ago. There used to be black marketing of urea and the farmers had to bear the brunt." Now farmers get enough urea, the prime minister said, adding that a sack of urea, which sells for Rs 3,000 in the world is supplied to farmers by the government for Rs 300.
Last fortnight, PM Modi, while addressing a poll rally in the sugarcane belt of Meerut, had said that his government is making efforts to turn the sugarcane belts across the country into "energy belts" -- a reference to the use of ethanol as fuel.
Modi had said, "Friends, we don't want to limit the sugarcane crop to sugar and jaggery. We want to make every sugarcane belt of the country into an energy belt."
The PM said that the amount of ethanol produced from sugarcane has gone up in the last 10 years. "Work is on to manufacture ethanol from sugarcane to be used as fuel for vehicles. Because of this, in the last ten years, around Rs 70,000 crore have been paid to sugarcane farmers," he said.
In Meerut too, Modi hit out at the opposition governments for neglecting the sugarcane farmers and shortchanging former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, a prominent farmer leader.
"The INDI Alliance that hates farmers did not give due respect to Chaudhary Charan Singh. When discussions were being held after Chaudhary Charan Singh was awarded Bharat Ratna, the entire country saw what the INDI Alliance did.
"When our younger brother Jayant Chaudhary was speaking in the parliament, efforts were made to stop his voice. Efforts were made to insult him," Modi said.
Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, who recently joined the National Democratic Alliance, was also present on the dais where Modi spoke. Jayant is the grandson of Chaudhary Charan Singh.
"The Congress and Samajwadi Party should apologise by visiting each farmer at his house for this," Modi said. "Not a single person from here can ever forgive Congress and its aides like Samajwadi Party," he said. "You must have not forgotten how sugarcane farmers were harassed. Sugar mills were closed and sold at throwaway prices. Modi stopped this fraud," he added.