BJP 'back-stabbed' farmers by not implementing Swaminathan Commission report: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday claimed that the Centre had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it would not implement the M S Swaminathan Commission report and added that by doing so, it had “backstabbed” the farmers.

Hitting out at the BJP-led central government, he said while it favoured waiving the loans of corporates, it was “reluctant” to do so when it came to the farmers.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief also demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss the farmers’ issues.

“The farmers are in a deep crisis. It is extremely distressing that they are being fired at and forced to dump their produce on the streets.

“What kind of development is this? When the farmers protest peacefully, they face bullets,” he said while addressing a national convention of his party on farmers.

AAP’s state convenors and in-charges were present on the occasion. Farmer leaders Rampal Jat (Rajasthan), Satnam Singh and Gurnam Singh (Punjab) and Raghunath Patil (Maharashtra) also attended the event.

The convention comes at a time when the party is looking to strengthen its base in rural India.

“The BJP won elections by promising to implement the Swaminathan Commission report, but it has now backstabbed the farmers.

“I have learnt that the government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it does not want to implement the report,” claimed Kejriwal.

He said the Congress was defeated in the last Lok Sabha election as the party had resorted to “tactics similar to those of the BJP-led government”.

“Today, neither the soldiers nor the farmers are happy.  The BJP came to power riding on the slogan of ‘jai jawan jai kisan’, but it has let down both. Every farmer should be made aware of this,” said the AAP leader.

He also demanded an FIR against the police personnel who opened fire at the farmers at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.