PM should hold talks with farmers to accede to their demands: Puducherry CM

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Tuesday charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with making false promises as being 'friend of ryots' only for garnering votes and for political mileage and demanded that the Centre's farm laws be repealed.

Inaugurating a tractor rally by federation of all farmers associations here to extend support to the agitating farmers in Delhi, the CM said, "all assurances and promises given to farmers by the NDA during elections were an attempt to hoodwink the ryots."

"What the government headed by Modi had done by bringing in three black laws is a clear betrayal," he said.

Listing the unique measures of his government taken for benefit of the farmers, Narayanasamy claimed that nowhere in the country was power supplied to all categories of peasants free of cost as is done in Puducherry.

"The territorial government ispaying the premium under the crop insurance scheme and farmers need not meet the liability to foot the insurance scheme," he said.

He also called the three contentious laws, which farmers wanted to be scrapped, as 'anti farmers' and 'injurious' to the farming community.

"When farmers were holding agitations and tractor rally in the country's capital today in a peaceful manner, the police unleashed action which is objectionable," he said and urged the central government to hold parleys with the protesters and concede their demands.

Congress MP from Puducherry V Vaithilingam (a farmer), Welfare Minister M Kandasamy and leaders of various farmers outfits participated in the tractor rally.