Stalin slams Centre, TN CM for not addressing plight of drought-hit farmers

A day after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met protesting farmers from Tamil Nadu at Jantar Mantar, DMK president Stalin also met them on Saturday.

New Delhi, April 1: On Saturday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin met Tamil Nadu farmers protesting for drought relief fund at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. "Tamil Nadu farmers have been continuously protesting in Delhi, but the Centre does not seem to be bothered about it," Stalin told ANI.

"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami should have come here and found a solution to their problems, instead he is busy with RK Nagar bypoll in Chennai," added Stalin. Stalin was accompanied by D Raja of the Communist Party of India. "An all-party meeting should be convened on this issue," the DMK chief demanded.

On Friday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and DMK MP Kanimozhi separately met the farmers at the protesting site. Both the leaders slammed the Centre for not addressing the issues of the farmers.

It has been 19 days since a group of farmers from drought-hit Tamil Nadu are protesting at Jantar Mantar in the national capital. These 80-odd farmers from Tamil Nadu are demanding financial relief as they have lost their crops and savings in the ongoing drought in the state.

The peaceful agitation has brought a lot of attention as the farmers are protesting with skulls. Apart from regular media attention, because of the unique way of their protest, a couple of film personalities, including Prakash Raj, and leaders of ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham in Tamil Nadu met the farmers at the protesting site.

The skulls are the remains of Tamil farmers who committed suicide due to severe drought in the state, say protesters. There are at least eight skulls at the protest site, reminding onlookers how drought forced several farmers in Tamil Nadu to commit suicide as they failed to pay back their loans taken from the banks and private money lenders.

OneIndia News