Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today observed a hunger strike in front of Raj Bhawan here today to counter the ruling BJD’s chasi samavesh (farmers’ rally) in Sohela of Bargarh district over farmer suicides in the State.
Targeting BJD, the saffron party said the State government has completely failed to tackle the farmer suicide cases which have unofficially crossed 100 in the State in the last 20 days.
“We have covered 12 districts and met the poor farmers personally to know their condition while the State is reeling under severe drought situation. I want to ask the chief minster how many villages he has visited and met peasants? Only by announcing packages the government can’t contain the issue,” stated senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra.
“We are here to sympathise our farmers who have lost their lives due to crop failure and loan burden. The ruling party must understand that it should reach the farmers to stop recurrence of such incidents in future,” he added.
However the ruling BJD has refuted the allegations.
“The Opposition should not politicise the issue. By doing such strikes the party is doing mockery of the poor farmers. If it really wants to solve the problem, the party must come forward and discuss with the ruling party,” BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said.