PM crop insurance scheme is not for farmers, it is for benefit of PM Modi's friends, says Nana Patole

He said that the banana and cotton cultivators are distressed and the Maharashtra government must provide immediate relief

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Saturday slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for rubbing salt into the wounds of farmers and unemployed youth.

He said that the banana and cotton cultivators are distressed and the Maharashtra government must provide immediate relief.

While talking to reporters, Patole said, "The state government is blowing its own trumpet claiming it is giving crop insurance for Re 1. The share of premium being paid by the state and Union governments to insurance firms is also public money. The government has paid crores of rupees to insurance firms as part of the Pradhan Mantri crop insurance scheme. There is a drought in the state and the government has asked insurance firms to give 25 per cent as compensation for loss of soybean crop but the firms have thrown this request into the dustbin."

Asserting that these firms were not heeding the government, Patole alleged the PM crop insurance scheme was not for farmers but for the benefit of "select friends" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Banana and cotton farmers in Jalgaon are in deep distress. On one hand, banana is not fetching any price in the market and on the other several have faced crop loss due to pest attacks. But the BJP government has ignored these farmers. The Congress will launch protests in every district in the state in the next 15 days to raise farmers' issues," Patole said.

Mocking the Centre, Patole said Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to double farm income but only the number of suicides of farmers has doubled.

"If farmers get fair prices, they will not commit suicide. Onion prices are down and the Modi government imposed 40 per cent export duty. The government should declare drought in the state," he said.

Patole said the BJP government was rubbing salt into the wounds of the unemployed youth as a minister has publicly said there is no unemployment.

While the youth are struggling to find jobs, the state is becoming a haven for drugs, he said in a reference to narcotics worth several hundred crore rupees being seized and busting of manufacturing units in places like Nashik.

"By making such insensitive remarks the government has insulted the youth, but the BJP doesn't care about the youth of this country. While the youth of the state struggle to find a job, the state has become a drug haven. The state government must take action to disrupt the drug racket that is active in the state," Patole said.

The state government must make all efforts to disrupt this drug network, he added. 

Patole also mocked Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' 'I will return' video clip which was posted by the Bharatiya Janata Party on its social media handle a day earlier and removed hours later.

Before the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2019, Fadnavis, then-chief minister, had said, "Mi punha yein" (I will return). The remarks evoked many social media memes.

Reacting to the video clip, Patole said the BJP was forced to delete it from its social media account as the "public has already deleted him (Fadnavis) from their hearts".

Patole claimed Fadnavis had fallen out of favour with senior BJP leaders, while people had stopped trusting the "party of liars".

"The importance of social media has gone up. One should see the responses to the tweet (video clip on X). People have said they don't want to give any chance to the BJP," Patole claimed.

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