Three days after he publicly questioned Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan about his promises to farmers, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar praised the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister during a question-and-answer session in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, saying he would become a “ladla” (beloved). Farmers.
Addressing the centenary of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Centre for Research in Cotton Technology (ICAR-CIRCOT) in Mumbai on Tuesday, Dhankhar questioned the minister as to what was promised to the agitating farmers and if so, why it was not fulfilled. done Chauhan, who was on stage with Dhankhar, spoke in front of him.
During question and answer session in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Dhankhar pointed to the Mumbai incident while Chouhan was answering questions related to his ministry. ‘The minister was with me, there and on the way back. I told the minister, I am sure that the person known as ‘Ladli’ will now become the ‘Ladla’ of the farmers. An energetic minister, his name is Shivraj, will do it,” Dhankhar said, referring to the Ladli Bahna Yojana launched by Chauhan’s government in Madhya Pradesh.
Over the past week, Dhankhar has spoken about the problems faced by farmers protesting at the Delhi border. Speaking at an event held in Delhi on Sunday, the Vice President said, “How can we sleep if the farmers’ problems are not solved quickly… Farmers’ problems should be solved quickly.” If farmers are in trouble, it is a big loss to the country’s pride and it is often the reason we keep our voices to ourselves.”
On Tuesday, he asked why there was no dialogue with the farmers and why the promise made to them was not fulfilled in an apparent reference to the farmers’ demand for a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Ahead of the question and answer session in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Chauhan along with other ministers met the Speaker at his office. The vice president’s office has shared a photo of Dhankhar smiling and shaking hands with Chauhan in the meeting.
Chauhan told the House that the government would buy products at MSP saying that the Congress had not done so when it was in power. In response to a question from Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, he said, “We have bought farmers’ produce at MSP and even now we buy the entire produce.”
In a post on X, Ramesh said: “Farmers are marching to Parliament today. Their protest got a big booster dose from no less than the Vice President and Hon’ble Speaker of the Rajya Sabha,” referring to the VP’s comments in Mumbai.