Manmohan Singh woos farmers in poll-bound Haryana

Ambala, Oct 7 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today wooed Haryana farmers to cast their votes in the October 13 polls to the legislative assembly.

He addressed a mass rally at Ambala city in Haryana on Wednesday (October 07).

Speaking at the election rally, he said that both the state and federal governments would take all necessary measures to help the farmers who have faced losses in nearly four decades due to the erratic monsoon this year.

"Ladies and Gentleman, this year farmers had to face lot of problems due to a weak monsoon. I want to assure you, the farmers of Haryana that the state and central governments are jointly taking all possible measures to help and solve their problems," said Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India.

Singh further said that the federal government is aware of the problems faced by the common people due to steep hike in the prices of essential commodities.

On this count, the Prime Minister assured that the government is taking all necessary measures to control it.

"I am aware that since last few months you are facing the brunt of the rising prices of essential commodities. There are several reasons behind this price rise. The cost of edible commodities in the international market has risen.

"There have been less monsoon showers this year. So drought-like situation has affected our crops this year. We have raised (procurement) prices for the farmers to benefit them. Because of all these, the price rise has taken place. We are taking all necessary measures to control the price rise," added Singh.

The election for 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 13 and the counting of votes will take place on October 22.

The state will witness a triangular contest, mainly between the ruling Congress, the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The elections will be the first major test for the federal-ruling Congress coalition after a strong victory in the general elections, which were held in May. (ANI)