Farmer's suicide: Shiv Sena slams Devendra Fadnavis government

Shiv Sena/ file pic

The Shiv Sena on Thursday slammed the Devendra Fadnavis government of making " false promise" to the farmers. The accusation came after farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra. The party also asked the people to file a "cheating" case against the BJP leaders.

The Shiv Sena, which is a part of the central and the state governments, also slammed the fast observed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders today, terming it as a "drama".

The party took a dig at Modi over his assertions during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls that each Indian can get Rs 15 lakh if all the illegal money stashed abroad is brought back.

"Although the BJP's coffers increased to Rs 1,034 crore from Rs 570 crore last year, farmers have not received Rs 15 lakh as promised by Modi," said the Shiv Sena in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamna'. Referring to the debt-ridden farmer who allegedly committed suicide in Yavatmal district two days back following crop loss, the editorial said, "Had (Shankar) Chayare received Rs 15 lakh, he would have repaid his Rs 3 lakh debts and would not have committed suicide."

After Chayare's death, the police had said a note was given to them by his family in which the prime minister was held responsible for the deceased's extreme step. "Chayare ended his life holding Modi responsible for his extreme step. The debt burden of Rs 3 lakh and crop-loss prompted him to end his own life. The incident shows the hollowness of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' claim that all is well in the state. The incident has exposed the false claims of the government," the Shiv Sena said.

"Despite the state government's loan waiver scheme, which it had termed as historic, the number of farmers suicides has not come down. This is because the government's announcements are false and there is a chaos in the implementation of the scheme," said the Uddhav Thackeray-led party which has been upset with the BJP.

"This is cheating on the part of the government. Just like committing suicide is a crime, abetment to suicide is also a crime. Therefore, a case of cheating and abetment to suicide should be registered against the government," it said.

The Sena taunted Fadnavis, saying that although his government is not aware of the exact number of farmers who benefited from the loan waiver scheme, the CM knows how many seats his party is going to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

The editorial also referred to the fast observed by the BJP leaders to protest against disruption of the recent Budget session of Parliament.

"The political parties in India are indulging in one-upmanship. After the Congress' fasting fiasco, the BJP under the leadership of Modi decided to observe one-day fast. But what will be achieved through this drama when a large section of the country continues to suffer and remain hungry that is leading to the rise in a number of suicides," it said.

Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from PTI

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.