BJP attacking farmers again, govt must answer: Akhilesh Yadav on US-India trade deal

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday slammed the government over the India-US trade deal, saying opening Indian markets to American agricultural produce amounted to "betrayal" of nearly 70 per cent of the country's population dependent on farming. His remarks came after India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will bring down the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from a total 50 per cent. Yadav claimed that the BJP and its associates were "agents of foreign interests" even before Independence and continued to be so today.

Targeting the ruling party, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said BJP leaders should explain to the public how much "commission" they had earned by compromising the country's economy. Yadav said such policies would not only harm farmers but also adversely impact the lower middle class and middle class by encouraging profiteering in foodgrains and agricultural products and creating a new class of middlemen, leading to a rise in prices. He alleged that the BJP would also collect donations from corporate entities, making food items even costlier. These steps would gradually reduce farmers' income, forcing them to sell their land to wealthy individuals and corporates, Yadav said.

"Capturing land is the ultimate objective of the BJP and its associates," he alleged. Referring to the proposed Seed Bill, Yadav described it as "fatal for Indian agriculture" and alleged that it was the product of an anti-farmer mindset of the BJP government.

He accused the ruling party of bringing land acquisition laws, humiliating people by forcing them to stand in fertiliser queues every year, and promoting corporate interests linked to seeds, pesticides, storage silos, crop insurance and agricultural trade. Yadav called for organised resistance against such policies, asserting that farmers already troubled by issues such as stray cattle would no longer tolerate the government's actions.

He alleged that the BJP had been, was and would remain anti-farmer, and said it was time to "remove BJP, save fields, farming and farmers."