BJP MP Varun Gandhi wrote an open letter to CM Yogi regarding the problems of farmers

Demanding several reliefs to farmers in Uttar Pradesh, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday wrote a letter to the state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.  In this, he has demanded a significant increase in sugarcane prices, bonus on government procurement of wheat and paddy, doubling the amount of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana and subsidy on diesel.  Varun Gandhi, a three-time MP from Uttar Pradesh, has supported the resumption of talks with the protesting farmers for a universal solution.

In a two-page letter to Yogi Adityanath, the Lok Sabha member from Pilibhit has mentioned the problems of farmers and their demands.  Along with this, he has also given some suggestions to solve these problems.  Varun Gandhi, while sharing a copy of the letter written to Yogi Adityanath regarding the problems of farmers, wrote on Twitter, “My letter indicating the basic problems of the farmers, to the honorable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, I hope that the sons of the land will be saved.”  The matter will definitely be heard.

किसानों की बुनियादी समस्याओं को इंगित करता मेरा पत्र उत्तर प्रदेश के माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री योगी आदित्यनाथ जी के नाम, उम्मीद है कि भूमिपुत्रों की बात ज़रूर सुनी जाएगी; pic.twitter.com/4rw8AduP0y

— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) September 12, 2021

In the letter, Varun Gandhi has suggested to increase the price of sugarcane to Rs 400 per quintal whereas in Uttar Pradesh its current price has been fixed at Rs 315 per quintal.  Sugarcane is mainly cultivated in western Uttar Pradesh, which has been the center of farmers’ protests against the Centre’s agricultural laws in the state.

Varun wrote in the letter that farmers should be given additional bonus at the rate of Rs 200 per quintal over the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on government purchases of paddy and wheat.  He demanded that the assistance being given to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme should be doubled to Rs 12,000 per year and the state should contribute Rs 6,000 out of Rs 12,000 from its own fund.  .  PM Kisan Yojana is an initiative of the Center, under which all farmers are given six thousand rupees annually as minimum income support.

Sharing the farmers’ concern over the prices of electricity and diesel, Varun Gandhi in the letter requested the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to give a subsidy of Rs 20 per liter on diesel and cut electricity rates with immediate effect.

It is noteworthy that on the 5th of this month, a large number of farmers had participated in the Mahapanchayat called by the United Kisan Morcha in Muzaffarnagar against the three agricultural laws.  Even at that time Varun had told Gandhi that “he is his people” and the government should resume talks with him for a common solution.

Sharing the video of the crowd gathered in the Mahapanchayat on Twitter, Varun Gandhi wrote, “Today lakhs of farmers have gathered in Muzaffarnagar to protest.  They are our own people.  We need to respectfully talk to them again.  Understanding their pain and thoughts, there is a need to work for a common solution.

This mahapanchayat was organized in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the crucial assembly elections to be held next year.  Farmers have been agitating against three agricultural laws since November last year at the borders of the national capital.  Several rounds of talks between the protesting farmers’ representatives and union ministers on this matter have been fruitless.

On the laws brought for the purpose of agricultural reforms, the central government says that this will give farmers new options to sell their products.  The government has also dismissed the apprehensions, saying that the purpose of these laws is to abolish the minimum support price system and the market system.