Gadkari ready to join hands with any party for farmers welfare

Nagpur, Oct 29 (UNI) Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari today said he was open to joining hands with any political party to resolve the problems faced by farmers.

The issue should not be politicised but resolved through an humane approach, he said while addressing an all-party meeting on the crucial issue.

Mr Gadkari said suicide by farmers has risen alarmingly and immediate steps are required to stop it.

The meeting was convened by Mr Gadkari himself and was attended by former MP and president of Vidarbha Rajya Party (VRP) Banwarilal Purohit, Shetkari Sangathana leaders and BJP MPs and MLAs.

Former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Ranjit Deshmukh was present but no other senior leaders from the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) or even the Shiv Sena attended the meeting.

Expressing his willingness to join hands with any other political parties on the issue, Mr Gadkari said he was even ready to be part of any movement, led by the present MPCC chief Prabha Rau.

The all-party meeting made several demands today, including waiving off loans for the debt-ridden farmers of Vidarbha. It called for hiking the procurement prices of cotton to Rs 2700 and of paddy to Rs 1000, besides demanding free power for farmers, a promise made by the Congress in its election manifesto.

The leaders attending the meeting also called for removing the irrigation backlog of the backward Vidarbha region and a complete ful stop to load shedding. The meeting also demanded that reasons behind the suicides of 1,150 farmers in the last couple of years be reinvestigated as the Ryots' families have been denied relief by the government on minor technical grounds.

The meeting also warned of an agitation if the demands listed today are not met. A detailed progr amme would be chalked out by consensus the meeting said.

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