Only one farmer gets to contest against Narendra Modi

Varanasi, May 03: Only one farmer from Telangana will get to contest the elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

The Election Commission has rejected the nominations of 24 of the 25 farmers who were planning on contesting as independents from Varanasi from where Modi is seeking a re-election.

The farmers were planning to contest as independents to press their demand for remunerative price to turmeric and constitution of a turmeric board.

It may be recalled that 177 farmers contested as independents in Nizamabad during the April 11 Lok Sabha elections. They were protesting against the ruling TRS government and alleged that their demand for a minimum support price for turmeric and red jowar was not met. The EC had to make special arrangements for the polls due to the large number of contestants.

The EC had used over 26,000 ballot unit and 2,300 control units and 26,000 VVPATS for the election.