PM Modi underlines support for farmers; attacks Congress-DMK alliance

Coimbatore, Feb 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday sought to underline his government''s commitment for the farmers, saying it has strived to ensure their prosperity and dignity without any dependence on middlemen.

In a statement that comes amid the sustained protests by farmers outside Delhi for nearly four months opposing the new Central farm laws, he said the NDA also wanted to bring a paradigm shift in the agricultural sector.

For years, small businessmen and small farmers were ignored but the "NDA government has given topmost priority to these two sections," he said in his address at a public meeting in this western town of poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

"It has been our honour to work for the small farmer of India. In the past seven years our efforts for small farmers are aimed at giving them a life of prosperity and dignity," he said.

With the launch of initiatives, including soil health cards, the government wanted to bring a paradigm shift in the agriculture sector, he said. Taking a swipe at the DMK-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu, Modi said their "meetings are like corruption hackathons" where "their leaders sit and discuss on how to loot."

The NDA''s governance was one with compassion while the opposition''s was "misgovernance with corruption," he alleged.