Silent undercurrent brewing across west UP against Modi govt’s ‘failures’: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday claimed that a “silent undercurrent” is brewing across western Uttar Pradesh against the “failures” of the Modi government, as it flagged issues such as “neglect” of sugarcane farmers and examination paper leaks.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh attacked the BJP-led central government ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll rally in Amroha.

“Today’s questions for the PM as he heads to UP: Why has the BJP neglected UP’s sugarcane farmers? Rs 20,000 crores later, why is the Ganga still India’s most polluted river? Is the Modi Sarkar doing anything to prevent paper leaks? Elaborating on what he said were “jumla details”, Ramesh said Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest sugarcane producer and yet, the BJP government has “neglected” farmers’ calls to increase the price of sugarcane.”

“Prices stand at just Rs.360/quintal in UP, much lower than Rs.386/quintal in Punjab and Rs.391/quintal in Haryana. Price hikes have also failed to keep pace with inflation and farmers are now struggling due to the rising cost of fertiliser and pesticides,” he said Area under cultivation has come down by almost 4000 hectares in the last three years, he said.

Amidst sugarcane shortages, mills are struggling to pay sugarcane farmers on time, and there are fears that some may shut down permanently, Ramesh said.

“This vicious cycle is threatening the livelihoods of sugarcane farmers and mill workers but the BJP government is nowhere to be seen. What is the double Anyay BJP government doing to support sugarcane farmers and mill workers in UP?” he said in a post on X.

Noting that in 2014, PM Modi had promised a cleaner Ganga through his government’s flagship Namami Gange programme, Ramesh said the project sanctioned an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore between 2014 and 2019, and 815 new sewage treatment plants (STPs) had been built or proposed by 2021.