Uttarakhand farmers' protest: Congress stages dharna, accuses state, Centre of insensitivity

Dehradun: Opposition Congress on Thursday staged a sit-in, accusing the Centre and the Uttarakhand government of being “insensitive” towards the plight of debt-ridden farmers. [caption id=“attachment_3707013” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] State Congress chief Pritam Singh criticised the Narendra Modi government for celebrating three years in power at a time when farmers were committing suicide all over the country. “It shows the BJP government’s total indifference towards farmers,” he told reporters at Gandhi Park where the dharna was held and attended by most of the senior party leaders including former chief minister Harish Rawat and former cabinet minister Indira Hridayesh. “The BJP usurped power by raising the expectations of farmers and then brutally dashed them fulfilling not even a single pre-poll commitment it made to farmers before 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” Pritam Singh said. Attacking the BJP government of Uttarakhand, he said it was boasting of its achievements of 100 days in office while “farmers have begun to commit suicide”. He said two debt-ridden farmers had killed themselves close on the heels of each other in Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar districts recently. The Congress leader accused the Trivendra Singh Rawat government of backing out of its pre-poll promise of a loan waiver to farmers. “The Congress had initially decided to let the state government perform quietly for six months after being elected (in March) but the indifference with which it is treating farmers has forced us to break our silence and take to the streets,” he said.