New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday criticised the BJP-led Maharashtra government over farmer suicides and accused the Centre of ignoring their plight. This prompted a swift response from the BJP, which cited findings and facts about farmer deaths in the state during the Congress-NCP rule to set the record straight.

The political blame game on farmer suicides began over the Fadnavis government’s admission that 767 farmers committed suicide in the state in the past three months. The state government told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that 767 farmer suicides were reported in the state, primarily in the Vidarbha region.

The Congress MP used the farmers’ deaths to mount an attack on the Centre, accusing it of callousness and gross indifference to their plight. He said that 767 families have been devastated and shattered, but the government remains unmoved.

“Is this just a statistic? No. These are 767 shattered homes. 767 families that will never recover. And the government? Silent. Watching with indifference,” he asked on X.

Rahul further said the farmers are sinking deeper into debt every day, but the government continues to look away. Their plight remains ignored while there is no government assurance or promise on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural products.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya was quick to counter Rahul’s charge with facts and figures of farmers’ suicides, when the state was ruled by Congress-led governments in the past.

Amit Malviya said the Congress leader must think before blurting out baseless charges. He said that Rahul must look at the utter failures and misgovernance of the Congress-NCP governments, which saw a spate of farmer deaths during their reign.

Sharing details of farmers’ deaths, Amit Malviya stated that more than 55,000 deaths took place in the 15-year rule of the Congress-NCP government and asked, ‘Who was accountable for this?’

The graph shared by him, compiled with data gathered from NCRB and P. Sainath, shared details of ‘mass suicides’ in different government tenures, starting from 1999 to 2014.

“From 1999-2004, about 16,512 farmers committed suicide while from 2004-2009, about 20,566 farmers committed suicide while from 2009 to 2014, 18,850 farmers killed themselves,” it pointed out.

Notably, the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra has gained infamy over the years because of an abnormally high number of suicides by farmers. For decades now, the region has been hogging headlines over sorry state of affairs for the farming community.

Rahul Gandhi, further escalating his attack on the Centre, said that farmers’ demand for loan waivers remains ignored, but the Modi government continues to give big loans to corporates and billionaires.

“Modi ji promised to double farmers’ income – today, the reality is that the lives of those who feed the nation are being cut in half. This system is killing the farmers,” Congress MP claimed.

Giving a firm retort, Amit Malviya said that the politics of counting the dead looks repulsive, but it’s important to show Rahul Gandhi and Congress the mirror.

–IANS

mr/dpb