No other PM except Modi so sensitive to farmers' issues: Rajnath tells Lakhimpur gathering

Lakhimpur Kheri/Pilibhit (UP), Feb 2: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday claimed that no other prime minister has been as sensitive to farmer issues as Narendra Modi who announced the repeal of the agri laws because "some farmer brothers disagreed with them". He termed the BJP as a party that has chosen the path of development and where casteism, regionalism and communalism are not acceptable.

Lashing out at the Samajwadi Party, Singh alleged that "crimes like loot, murder, abduction were a routine" during its rule, whereas "the Yogi Adityanath government during its five-year term has changed the scenario and even hardcore criminals are behind the bars." The Union minister was scheduled to address a meeting at the Yuvraj Palace in Lakhimpur Kheri. He was to then go on a door-to-door campaign for BJP candidates Yogesh Verma from Lakhimpur and Manju Tyagi from Srinagar constituencies. However, owing to poor visibility caused by dense fog and rough weather conditions, his helicopter could not land in Lakhimpur.

He addressed the meeting through the mobile handset of a local BJP leader around 1.30 pm. He highlighted the agriculture-based economy of Lakhimpur Kheri and said the Narendra Modi-led BJP government was committed to the welfare of the farmers and farming. "No other prime minister in Independent India except Narendra Modi has been so sensitive towards the farmers that he repealed the three farm laws all of a sudden only because some farmer brothers disagreed with them." "While repealing the farm laws, the way he (PM Modi) said he failed to convince the other farmers reflected his sensitive approach towards farmers," Singh said, adding the BJP government was striving hard to make farming profitable.

Appealing to the people to vote for BJP, Rajnath Singh said the BJP is a party that works for both the development of India and its heritage. He cited the renovation of Somnath and Kedarnath temples and the construction of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya and the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor to buttress his claim. Lauding the Modi government for "rooting out corruption", Singh said, "Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had expressed his helplessness in curb graft when he had admitted that only 15 paise out of Rs 100 reached the beneficiaries." "But Narendra Modi without expressing any helplessness ensured that that full amount of Rs 6,000 reached the beneficiaries of Kisan Samman Nidhi when the same was transferred to them from Delhi," he added.
Campaign for party candidates in four assembly seats in Pilibhit, the defence minister alleged that when rivals of the BJP forms government, crime and atrocities against women rises. "They believe in doing politics in the name of Hindu and Muslim," Singh said. Claiming that the ship of Samajwadi Party is sinking, he remarked, "Even the red cap will not be able to save it." In a swipe at opposition parties, Singh said of the 84 yoga postures, BJP does 83 of them while the one -- "shirshasan" (headstand) -- has been left for the rivals. In the days to come, they will practice the headstand posture, he said.

Referring to the development works carried out in the state, the Union minister said the Jewar airport has earned glory for the country. "Aircraft maintenance work will be done there and we will no longer have to take help of other countries. This has strengthened our economic structure. We have become independent," Singh said. About Covid management, he claimed the state's effort in this front has been praised even abroad. PTI