Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday joined protesting farmers in Singur, voicing their grievances over not getting a fair price for potatoes and sharply criticising the ruling Trinamool Congress government.
Addressing farmers at the protest site, Adhikari accused the state government of depriving cultivators of central benefits and failing to address their economic distress. Referring to the fate of Singur after the Tata Motors’ Nano project exit in 2008, he said, “There is no factory, no crop, no fish farming. The Tata factory was blown up with dynamite. Not only the factory, but the land was destroyed. Singur’s land has turned barren.”
Adhikari, once a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, alleged that the present state government is withholding records and not sending the required list of beneficiaries for the Centre’s PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
“In India, the Modi government gives PM-Kisan to around 15 crore farmer families. In Bengal, 50 lakh families get it. Why won’t 83 lakh families get it? They don’t send the list, they don’t want to give the record. Most Hindu families are deprived of this scheme in this state,” he claimed.
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The BJP leader further alleged that the state is making it difficult for farmers to access the Centre’s annual ₹37,000-crore fertiliser subsidy. Warning of a sharp rise in costs, he said, “Once Kali Puja is over, the potato cultivation season will start. Fertiliser costing ₹1,200 will become ₹2,500. Then even the local Trinamool Congress leaders will not be seen.”
Adhikari accused the government of prioritising religious appeasement over farmers’ welfare, alleging, “Their two targets are— keep the Muslims safe and let more Rohingya Bangladeshi Muslims enter, then give them money in the name of allowances before elections.”
On the core issue of potato prices, Adhikari demanded that the state purchase potatoes at a subsidised rate of ₹15 per kg from farmers in East Burdwan, Medinipur and Howrah. He urged cultivators to intensify their agitation on this demand, warning that if the government does not act, farmers should take the matter to court.
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