Congress MP Rahul Gandhi finally broke his silence over FDI in retail sector and came out in its support. He said that the Opposition, which was opposing the same, was anti-farmer.
Mr Gandhi, while addressing a public meeting in Farukkhabad on Friday, said that this was the highest potato growing district in the country but almost 60 per cent of the produce went waste because of paucity of buyers.
“With FDI in the retail sector, farmers would get an opportunity to directly sell their produce and prevent wastage. The Opposition is stalling the move because they do not want farmers to get the benefits of globalization,” he said.
Mr Gandhi said that the Congress was always concerned about the welfare of farmers and would never pursue a policy that went against their interests. He said that loans worth `60,000 crores had been waived off for farmers by the UPA government. He added that those who claimed that India was shining had forgotten the farmers.
Talking about farmer unrest in Tappal and Bhatta-Parsaul, he said that the farmers got bullets when they demanded compensation for their land and were also termed as Naxalites.
“In cities, people get market rates when they sell their land but when farmers do the same, they get bullets,” he said. He said that UP chief minister Mayawati had no concern for farmers and did not take the trouble of visiting Bhatta-Parsaul or Bundelkhand where farmers were driven to suicide.
Mr Gandhi said that there was no dearth of money and the centre was regularly sending funds for welfare scheme. “But the magic elephant here eats up all the money,” he pointed out.
Lashing out at the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Congress MP said that there was a time when the SP leader reached out to the people but not anymore.
“Now he (Mulayam) is not concerned about your problems and your welfare. He teaches English and computers to his son but does not want the poor people to earn and progress. These leaders have stopped connecting with the people and travel by helicopters because from a certain height, the picture looks very rosy,” he said.
Recalling an incident, Mr Gandhi said that he asked a six-year-old boy what he wanted to do on growing up but the boy had no answer. “Because the boy knew that there were no jobs for him in UP,” he said.