BJP reprimands Cong for taking farmers plight to PM's doorstep

With the Congress highlighting the plight of the farming community and submitting a memorandum in this regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that the grand old party that has ruled the nation for almost 60 years must introspect its action before putting the onus on others.

BJP's Siddharth Nath Singh said that the Congress has every right to raise the issue of farmers with Prime Minister Modi, but only if they introspect and realise that they themselves could not deliver on their promises made to the farming community.

"There is nothing wrong in democracy, if the opposition wishes to meet the PM and raise the issue. But when you are going to raise an issue, you have been in the government for last 60 years and in those 60 years, what have you delivered to the farmers and particularly when you talk about irrigation facilities," Singh told ANI.

"You must introspect that why after ruling India for 60 years you could not deliver. And if they have realised that they have done a mistake and they could not deliver, they have all the right to raise the issue with the Prime Minister," he added.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi along with other senior party leaders met Prime Minister Modi earlier in the dayand gave him a memorandum while highlighting the farmers' woes.

According to reports, the memorandum included farmers' demand like loan waiver schemes and other issues. The memorandum also listed the problems faced by the farming community due to the government's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes.

The opposition leaders are also scheduled to meet President Pranab Mukherjee this afternoon to put forth their concerns in this regard. They are also expected to highlight the government's attitude in the month-long Winter Session of Parliament which is headed for a washout.