Hooda leads protest against PM’s crop insurance scheme in Karnal
KARNAL: Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of being anti-farmer, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday took out a protest march against the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Karnal.
Accompanied by his MP son Deepender and several sitting and former Congress MLAs, Hooda reached the mini-secretariat on a tractor-trailer to submit a memorandum addressed to the Haryana governor, demanding withdrawal of the crop insurance scheme.
Claiming the march was just a “trailer”, Hooda warned the government of showing it the ”entire movie” if the demand is not met. Accusing chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar of failing to take steps for welfare of farmers, Hooda said: “The BJP did not increase sugarcane prices after coming to power, and now is implementing anti-farmer schemes.”
The Congress leader said the crop insurance scheme will only benefit insurance companies, without providing any relief to farmers. “The government should pay the entire premium amount instead of withdrawing it from bank accounts of farmers,” he said.
In the memorandum submitted to Karnal sub-divisional magistrate Yogesh Kumar, the Congress has sought the governor’s intervention. A SHOW OF STRENGTH
Hooda also utilised the platform as a show of strength, posturing himself as the seniormost leader of the Congress in Haryana.
“You can see all Congress MLAs are here, but I need your support to continue the battle and force this government to withdraw anti-farmer policies,” Hooda told the gathering outside the mini-secretariat.
The former chief minister also listed out achievements of the previous state government under his leadership while slamming the BJP for looting hard-earned money of farmers in the past two years.
Besides former speaker Kuldeep Sharma, Raghubir Kadian, Shakuntla Khatak, Jaiveer Valmiki, Geeta Bhukkal, Karan Dalal, Jagveer Malik, Anand Singh Dangi, Udai Bhan, Lalit Nagar and several other party leaders took part in the protest.
However, senior leaders, including Congress Legislature Party leader Kiran Choudhry, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Tanwar and party’s chief spokesperson and Kaithal MLA Randeep Surjewala, skipped the protest.
The government should be the one paying the entire premium amount instead of withdrawing it from bank accounts of poor farmers. BHUPINDER SINGH HOODA, former chief minister