Government pushing aside weaker sections: Rahul Gandhi

Says farmers, fishermen are being pushed aside by the government

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of pushing aside "weaker sections like farmers and fishermen from the country's development story".

"The best way to take the country forward is to empower its people. The NDA government has a completely different viewpoint. For some reason, they are convinced that you can develop the country by depriving a vast majority of people," Gandhi said while addressing fishermen here.

"Farmers are weak; fishermen are weak; and they are being pushed aside by the government," the Congress leader said.

Gandhi said that during his visits to Punjab, Maharashtra and other states, farmers asked him as to why the NDA government was "trying to destroy" them.

"They (farmers) are asking why they (government) are not giving us the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and compensation when the crops are destroyed," the Congress vice president said.

"And the most important and the biggest problem for the farmers is: Why are they stealing our (farmers') land without asking us," he said.

"The price of land is rising very fast. We need a law that would give the benefit of rising prices to the farmer. But the NDA wants to destroy the law that protects the farmer," Gandhi said.

He warned that the central government was not "picking up fights with farmers" but with the "soul of the country". "Nobody has ever won a fight against the soul of the country," he asserted.

Fishermen in Kerala have been agitating against the central government's decision to extend trawling ban from 47 days to 61 days.

Gandhi arrived on Tuesday on a two-day visit to the southern state.