Farmers body seeks apology from Kangana Ranaut for 'insulting' remarks against them

Kangana Ranaut.Pic/X

The Samyukt Kisan Manch Thursday sought an apology from the BJP's Mandi Lok Sabha candidate Kangana Ranaut for allegedly making insulting remarks against farmers during their 2020-2021 anti-farm laws stir.

"How can Kangana seek the votes of the farmers and expect our support when she has insulted the farmer community? She should first apologise," said SKM convener Harish Chauhan here.

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During the 2020-2021 farmer agitation against the three farm laws, Bollywood actor Kangana had allegedly misidentified a woman farmer from Punjab and called her Bilkis Bano, an octogenarian who made international headlines during the anti-CAA protests earlier in the Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh.

She had reportedly shared a tweet alleging that the "Shaheen Bagh Dadi" also joined the farmers' agitation over the new farm laws at various border points of the national capital. She retweeted the post with pictures of two elderly women, including Bilkis Bano, and wrote that the "same Dadi" who featured in Time Magazine was "available in 100 rupees".

When the Twitter users pointed out that both the women were different, Kangana reportedly deleted her tweet.

Addressing media persons, Chauhan said inspite of the fact that 70 per cent of the voters in the state are farmers, their issues were never raised by the MPs from the state during the past 10 years. The SKM will support those candidates in the ongoing elections who plead the cause of farmers, he added.

"We will render support to Congress candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh as he has been a part of SKM and has raised our issues in the Vidhan Sabha," Chauhan said.

The SKM has prepared a five-point demand charter and will support the parties which include these demands in their agenda, he said, adding that the loans of the farmers are not waived off in Himachal.

The apple industry, which is the mainstay of the farmers in several districts, is in dire straits due to the import of cheaper apple from Iran. Inspite of the minimum price of Rs 50 per kg fixed by the government, the imported apple is being sold at Rs 40 per kg, which is ruinous for the apple industry, he said.

Demanding the fixation of minimum support price (MSP) for fruits under the MIS (Market Intervention Scheme), Chauhan alleged that the Union government has scrapped the MIS and dues of the farmers amounting to Rs 70 crore have not been paid, he said.

He said the SKM struggled and several demands were accepted by the state government but the MPs never raised their demands. Especially the BJP MP from Shimla (SC) constituency, Suresh Kashyap, never raised their demands, he added.

The Congress has included MSP for fruits and crops in its manifesto which should be acceptable to all other parties, Chauhan said.

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