Opposition raises crop damage issue in UP assembly

Lucknow, March 3 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Tuesday as a united opposition raked up the issue of farmers who had suffered crop damage due to the heavy rain and hailstorm.

Accusing the Samajwadi Party (SP) government of being indifferent towards the plight of farmers, leader of opposition and BSP MLA Swami Prasad Maurya demanded a debate on the matter.

All the opposition parties - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Congress - then joined forces and sought an immediate discussion.

Their leaders said that the SP government led by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had decided to observe 2015-16 as the 'Year of the Farmer' but the government's response to farmers' problems was completely different.

Leader of the BJP in the House Suresh Khanna said that the Met department had been predicting inclement weather for the past many days but the warnings had fallen on deaf ears.

"We will not take this indifference to farmers lying down," he said later, adding that the state government should immediately extend financial assistance to the farmers whose crops had been damaged.

After another sitting on Wednesday, the budget session will go into recess for Holi between March 5-8.

Heavy rain, accompanied by hailstorm, has damaged standing wheat crops and potato harvests at many places in the state.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has ordered a survey of the crop damage and the revenue department has been asked to submit an estimate to the state government, following which, financial assistance to affected farmers would be disbursed, an official told IANS.