Predicting the fate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the poll results to be out on Sunday, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj has said the party would fare better and would win most of the seats in the rural belts than the urban areas in the four states.
Swaraj stated this while addressing a rally at Sector-15 ground of Sonepat town on Saturday, along with former national president Venkaiah Naidu to commemorate the first death anniversary of former MP from Haryana, Kishan Singh Sangwan.
Lauding the role of Sangwan, she said leaders like him had worked hard for the party to shed its urban-centric image and now the party had equal hold in the rural belt among peasantry.
She said earlier there was an impression that the party is limited to business community, but this perception was changed all thanks to the efforts of leaders like Sangwan, who went to the masses with the real message of the party.
Swaraj said her party not only talks of farmers and villages but works for them and the example can be seen in welfare programmes launched by the BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
She said while the MSP for wheat in the entire country was Rs 1,350, it was only Madhya Pradesh, which offered `150 bonus over the crop price to farmers. She said every gram of wheat was purchased and the money to farmers -- both bonus of crop price -- was deposited in their bank accounts simultaneously. She said it was the BJP-led government, which initiated policies of awarding loans to farmers at 0% interest.
{{/usCountry}}She said while the MSP for wheat in the entire country was Rs 1,350, it was only Madhya Pradesh, which offered `150 bonus over the crop price to farmers. She said every gram of wheat was purchased and the money to farmers -- both bonus of crop price -- was deposited in their bank accounts simultaneously. She said it was the BJP-led government, which initiated policies of awarding loans to farmers at 0% interest.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, it was the Chhattisgarh government only which gave Rs 200 bonus on paddy crop to farmers, she added.
Taking a dig at the Haryana government, former BJP national president Venkaiah Naidu said the Congress government is offering Rs 1,310 MSP for paddy crop to farmers, while investment on the crop is Rs 1,560, which has forced the farming community to abandon the profession.
Elaborating on the "pathetic" state of the farming community, he said it has become practically impossible for farmers to continue the profession as the price of DAP fertiliser and potash fertiliser has gained unreasonable and steep hike. He said the mismatch between the investment and MSP for crop had pushed farmers to the wall, but those farmers who still continue farming are only those who do not know anything else than this profession.
Remembering the contribution of Kishan Singh Sangwan, Haryana BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma said the BJP is the only party, which envisions taking all sections of society together. Taking a dig at the Congress without naming it, he said, "Baaki to Mummy-Puttar and sons private limited, headquarters in Italy, bank account in Switzerland, aur koi purja Hindustani nahi hai" (It is a family-centric party, whose headquarters lies in Italy, bank account in Switzerland and no part is Indian).