Modi speaks of new formula to help farmers

Wardha (Maharashtra), March 20 (IANS) Appealing to Maharashtra farmers not to commit suicide, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Thursday proposed a formula for ending misery in farmlands.

"We want a 5-F formula - farm, fibre, fabric, fashion and foreign (exports) - to help the cotton producing farmers," Modi said at his rally amidst applause from the farming community.

Attacking the Congress-led government at the centre, he said all they want is to win the elections but they neither understand the nation's needs nor how to take India forward.

Discussing the plight of farmers in Maharashtra - where nearly three dozen have committed suicide in the past four days - the Bharatiya Janata Party leader demanded why the money that belongs to the farmers is not being disbursed to them.

"They (the UPA) announce packages but give nothing. They are not concerned about how water reaches the farmers. The need of the hour is to equip the farmers with latest technology," the Gujarat chief minister said.

He assured that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will ensure proper relief to farmers affected by natural calamities and financial difficulties.

Modi called for systemic catering to the needs of the farmers to resolve their difficulties, thereby leading to no more deaths.

"Why don't we think of providing goods trains to ferry farm products? Why do we only speak of passenger trains?" Modi asked.

Lashing out at Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Modi said that though India has great potential in agriculture, farmers are dying everywhere.

"The union agriculture minister should answer: when cotton harvest was good, global demand rose, farmers were getting global orders, then why was cotton export banned? For whose benefit was it done?" he asked.

Recalling the "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" slogan of late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Modi said farmers and soldiers were not safe under the Congress.

"At that time, Shastri had electrified our farmers, they filled the country with foodgrain. But under the Congress, this mess is created. The nation is in a mess and farmers are suffering," he said.

Earlier, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said that unlike Maharashtra, farmers were not committing suicide in Gujarat due to Modi's style of governance.

"He has used river water properly for the welfare of farmers. There are no farmers suicides in Gujarat, but under the Congress rule in Maharashtra, many farmers have ended their lives," Gadkari said.