‘Chowkidars’ are working only for the rich, says Priyanka Gandhi as arrears for sugarcane farmers cross Rs 10,000 crore in UP

New Delhi: Taking a swipe at the BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said these ‘chowkidars’ (watchmen) are only working for the rich and are not bothered about the poor. She attacked the Uttar Pradesh government while citing a media report on Twitter that claimed the dues of sugarcane farmers had crossed Rs 10,000 crore in the state. [caption id=“attachment_6320891” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Congress president Rahul Gandhi also attacked the Uttar Pradesh government and BJP leaders for not clearing the dues of farmers, saying anyone insulting the farmers of the country cannot be a patriot. “The failure is yours. Why are you punishing farmers for it? Our farmers give us life. Any atrocity on them is an atrocity on the nation. Those who insult our farmers can never be patriots,” Rahul Gandhi said in a Facebook post. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Twitter, “The families of sugarcane farmers toil day and night but the Uttar Pradesh government does not even take the responsibility of paying their dues.” “Rs 10,000 crore of farmers’ dues means everything, including their children’s education, food, health, and the next produce comes to a standstill. These chowkidars only work for the rich and do not care about the poor,” she claimed. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was recently appointed the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. All BJP leaders in the country had recently followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in adding ‘Chowkidar’ to their Twitter handles, after Modi claimed that he was a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) of the country and would not allow any wrongdoing.