Even as the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi blamed policies of the Congress governments for the misery of farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday reminded him his party’s role in the Green Revolution and ensuring the country’s food security.

Expressing disappointment at PM’s failure to address any of the major concerns of the farmers at his Malout rally, the CM said in his zeal to criticise the Congress, Modi had conveniently forgotten that Congress was responsible for ushering in the Green Revolution and ensuring the country’s food security.

He should have had the decency to at least acknowledge that it was the Congress which had waived off the loans of the farmers while his government had completely failed to provide them with relief from their massive debts, said Amarinder.

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The farmers are unable to make both ends meet and yet the Prime Minister did not find it necessary to even make a reference to their problems, the CM said while expressing the PM’s rally in Punjab.

The distressed farmers who had gathered to hear Modi found no succour for their problems in his long speech, which was high on fluff and short of substance, said Amarinder, expressing shock at the fact that the PM failed to even mention farmer suicides and debts or the Swaminathan Report.

And to rub salt on the farmers’ wounds, the Badals, instead of using the opportunity to fight for Punjab’s rights on the water and Satluj Yamuna Link canal issue, actually shared the dais with Haryana CM Khattar, who was actively working against the interest of our state, said Amarinder.

In a statement, the CM said the rally turned out to be a sorry spectacle for the farmers, who had braved the sweltering heat in the hope of some concrete announcements from the PM.

Instead, Modi’s speech turned out to be an insipid affair, focused on tom-tomming of his government’s four-year rule, which has been a complete failure on all counts.

The CM said it was unfortunate that Modi had let go of such a major opportunity to address the serious concerns of the farming community.

If he really wanted to thank the farmers for contributing to the nation’s green revolution and for continuing to feed millions of Indians day after day, Modi should have come out with some concrete announcements on the critical issues of farm loan waiver and in toto implementation of the MS Swaminathan report, said Amarinder.