Jammu smallholders harvest crop prematurely for Modi's rally

Farmers in a nondescript hamlet on the outskirts of Jammu harvested their crop prematurely to pave the way for the venue of a mega rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their village on March 28.

A number of smallholders jointly harvested their wheat crop spread across several hectares of land in Malpur hamlet of Jammu district over the last two days.

"We are so happy that Modiji is coming to our village. It will become famous after his visit. We do not want to lose this opportunity and offered our farmland for the venue of his rally. The nearby ground set aside for his rally earlier does not have much space," a farmer, Kalu Ram, said.

He said the smallholders offered their land for the rally by "speedily harvesting semi-ripe wheat crop", which was to be harvested towards April-end.

"We could not have harvested several hectares of farmland by ourselves, so many villagers came forward to help. The village will go down in history once Modi ji arrives here," another farmer, Daleep Kumar, said.

The farmers said crop can be harvested next year, but "Modiji may not come to the hamlet in the future. We do not want to miss out on this opportunity".

Prime Minister Modi will address a mega rally in the village on March 28, BJP national vice-president and in-charge for the state, Avinash Rai Khanna, told reporters here.

Two sitting MPs -- Jugal Kishore Sharma and Union minister Jitendra Singh -- are seeking re-election from Jammu and Udhampur constituencies, which will go to polls on April 11 and April 18 respectively.