BJP wing to hold Kisan parliament in Delhi Saturday

Chandigarh, May 11 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kisan Morcha will hold a two-day farmers' parliament Saturday and Sunday in New Delhi to discuss the issues faced by the agriculture sector, a party functionary said Friday.

Kisan Morcha national president O.P. Dhankar said the issues related to agriculture, especially the increasing number of farmers' suicides, would be discussed at the special Kisan parliament.

"The present condition of agriculture and challenges ahead, government's wrong policies and declining income of farmers, market fluctuations and insecurity among farmers, fear of natural calamities and poor market management, increasing agriculture input and lack of infrastructural facilities would be discussed at length during the two-day event," Dhankar said.

Various bills related to agriculture sector tabled in parliament will also be discussed, he said. These include the bills on land acquisition, seeds and pesticides.

Accusing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of trying to ignore the plight of farmers, Dhankar said: "To highlight the plight of farmers, we have now decided to take initiative and are holding this parliament that will have brainstorming sessions where the bigwigs will discuss issues."

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate the Kisan parliament Saturday, Morcha spokesman Vineet Joshi said.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari and agriculture economist M.S. Swaminathan would speak at the concluding session Sunday.

Others likely to speak at the event include Arun Jaitley, former union agriculture minister Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Murli Manohar Joshi and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, among others.

Quoting a letter Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently, Dhankar said the letter had stated that the central government's policies are anti-farmer.