New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday portrayed his government as farmer-friendly, saying they were ‘TOP’ priority for it.
“The farmers who grow vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, onions and potatoes that are also top priority for us. Take T from tomato, O from Onion and P from Potato, you get TOP. Farmers are TOP priority for us,” Modi said.
The comments were made at rally in Bengaluru, marking the end of the BJP’s 90-day Nava Nirman Parivarthan Yatra in Karnataka. The state is slated to go to polls later this year.
Modi further said that these three TOP staples found across the country symbolised his government's initiative called 'Operation Greens' to improve the living condition of farmers. Keeping these growers in mind, Operation Greens has been announced in the budget, he said.
Comparing Operation Greens to AMUL, he said that like AMUL brought great benefits to dairy farmers, Operation Greens would prove beneficial for vegetable growers.
Sticking with the theme, he pitched for BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka, BS Yeddyurappa, as farmer-friendly.
“If Yeddyurappa, son of a farmer, becomes CM of Karnataka, the projects for farmers will work at its best because Yeddurappa has farmer's best interest at heart. When facilities are provided to villages, migration to cities will go down and the mounting pressure on cities will be released,” Modi said.
He assured farmers that Yeddyurappa would earmark Rs one lakh crore to improve the irrigation system in Karnataka if he becomes the Chief Minister after the assembly elections.
This comes after the Union Budget for 2018-19 gave special emphasis to farmers with a slew of schemes for them, from increasing MSP for crops to giving a subsidy to stop crop burning. With general scheduled for 2019, the government has been trying to address farmer grievances and rural distress.
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