Modi govt has snatched farmers' sleep, says Mamata; refers to her 26-day fast in 2006

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of having snatched farmers' sleep and while referring to the sops announced in the interim Budget on Friday claimed that the peasants were being cheated before the general elections.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chief, said if the government at the Centre changes following the Lok Sabha elections, farmers' interests will be given priority.

The chief minister is on a dharna since Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams.

From the dharna site in front of Metro Cinema in the heart of the city, she addressed a state conference of farmers over phone, which the participants at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, about a kilometre from the sit-in site, heard over loudspeakers.

In her address, Banerjee referred to her Singur fast and said, "I sat on fast at the same place for 26 days in 2006 demanding that farmland be returned to farmers and the movement set new precedent as the right of land to farmers got acceptance all over the country."
Claiming that nearly 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in the country in the past couple of years, the TMC supremo on Monday said, "The BJP and the Modi government have snatched farmers' sleep."