Kejriwal tells Centre to give farmers more relief money

NEW DELHI: The main purpose of Wednesday's AAP rally, which finally got overshadowed by the tragic suicide of a farmer from Rajasthan, was to protest against the Centre's proposed land acquisition Bill. Hundreds of farmers from various states had arrived in the capital for the event that was to culminate in a march towards Parliament and a meeting of senior AAP members with the agriculture minister.

The event was important, coming after a major crisis within the party and also a show of strength before the Punjab assembly elections in 2017. However, concluding speeches, including those of CM Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia were drowned by protests by a huge contingent of guest teachers. In fact, during Kejriwal's truncated speech, he was booed and shouted down by the protesters who said that the CM had gone back on his promise to them.

However, Kejriwal bulldozed ahead with what he had to say, shielded from the protesters by a mass of supporters who held up banners. "That a farmer came from Rajasthan and hanged himself in Delhi to draw the attention of the country shows his plight. I am even more surprised that he climbed a tree before our eyes and while we kept telling police to bring him down, they did nothing. Police is not under our control but you could have shown some humanity and climbed the tree to save him," he said.

He put forward three demands before the Centre, saying that he would write to CMs of other states and seek their support in forcing the Centre to act. "We want the government to take permission from the farmer before taking their land. It should implement the Swaminathan report on farmer compensations and all state governments should immediately announce a suitable compensation for affected farmers," said Kejriwal.

http://ift.tt/1bjUbqQ Kejriwal,AAP

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