Maha BJP minister adds to Modi's Land Bill woes, says no evidence what drove farmers to suicide

Mumbai: It has now become clear that passing the Land Bill in the Lok Sabha will be anything but a cakewalk for the Narendra Modi government. With the Opposition upping its ante, it is clear the the Bill will be greeted with stiff protest in the House. And now, Modi’s own party seems to have just scored a self goal in the issue, jeopardising the possibility of a smooth passage to the Land Bill even further. BJP leader and Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse added to the party’s woes by commenting that there is no evidence that all the 601 farmers who have committed suicide this year in Maharashtra, killed themselves because of crop-related troubles. He explained that since just three farmers have left suicide notes citing the destruction of crops and financial troubles as reasons, one cannot say for sure why the farmers ended their lives. Maharashtra has faced a series of natural calamities in the past two years that destroyed crops in Marathwada, Vidarbha and other parts of the state. Kahdse’s comments come at a time when the Modi government has come under attack from all quarters over its Land Bill. On Monday, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi termed the government ‘suit-boot ka sarkar’ which doesn’t care about the poor but is working for the benefit of industrialists. [caption id=“attachment_2207786” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP.[/caption] He further alleged that the Union government is not helping farmers badly hit by unseasonal rain and is also diluting the land acquisition law to weaken the farmers of the country. Khadse’s statements come at a time when Modi government in cornered in Lok Sabha and finding it difficult to push for the land acquisition bill in Rajya Sabha due to the Congress’ opposition. While Modi is trying to project the government as pro-farmers, such statements may sink the BJP’s plan of getting the crucial bill passed in the ongoing parliament session. Congress and NCP have slammed the BJP over the farmers issue and have decided to take on it in coming days. Terming the Maharashtra government’s report ‘highly insensitive’, Maharashtra congress president and MP Ashok Chavan said that it will launch a statewide agitation in next 8-10 days. “The state government has given a completely false report to the Centre. More than 1200 farmers have committed suicides in the past few weeks. By submitting such an irresponsible report, it clearly shows that the BJP led government is least bothered about the farmers’ issues. Now, we will start the state wide agitation more aggressively against the casual attitude of the Maharashtra government towards the farmers,” Chavan told Firstpost. Chavan demanded that the state government should waive off the farmers’ loans completely and provide compensation for kin of affected farmers at the earliest. NCP leader and leader of opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde slammed the BJP saying that it is playing the number game to hide its failure in preventing the farmer suicides in the state. “The BJP is least bothered about the farmers. By giving false information on farmers’ suicides and not taking enough measures for the relief package to the farmers, it shows that this BJP government is anti-farmers,” said Munde speaking to Firstpost. Kishor Tiwari, convener of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti asked how many farmers will actually bother writing suicide notes before killing themselves.  “Unseasonal rains have destroyed huge crop losses in last two years. When a farmer who has lost crops kills himself, one doesn’t need a note to figure out how much in trouble he is,” Tiwari said.