In a fresh attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Congress on Tuesday claimed that the ruling dispensation has surrendered more than Rs one lakh crore of the agriculture budget in the last five years and termed it as “anti-farmer”.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said, “A report of the Standing Committee states that the (Narendra) Modi Government has surrendered more than Rs one lakh crore of the agriculture budget in the last five years. In the BJP government from 2014 to 2022, more than one lakh farmers committed suicide due to indebtedness. This is the situation of farmers in the country.”

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“Couldn’t the lives of the farmers be saved by giving relief to them with this money? When the Congress party’s government was there at the Centre, Rs 72,000 crore loans of farmers were waived off. The Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government provided huge relief to the farmers during its regime. But, this government did waive even a single rupee of any farmer in the last 10 years,” he added.

On the minimum support price (MSP), the Congress leader said 8 per cent of the farmers in the country do not get MSP on wheat and 76 per cent get MSP on paddy. The MSP on wheat was increased by 119 per cent during the UPA government, but the BJP government increased it by only 47 per cent, he rued.

He further pointed out that the UPA government had increased the MSP of paddy by 134 per cent, while the BJP increased it by only 50 per cent. “There was a record increase in MSP and loan waiver during the UPA government. In the BJP Government, neither MSP increased nor loans waived off,” the parliamentarian said.

Taking a swipe at the government over its claim to double the income of farmers, Hooda said, “This too was a big deceit played on the farmer. While their income did not double, the debt doubled. The Modi Government is anti-farmer.”

The Congress leader also accused the BJP of “backtracking” on the promise it made during the farmer agitation to benefit a few industrialists. He demanded that the government should provide immediate relief to the farmers to mitigate their woes.