VIJAYAWADA: Taking a swipe at BJP for their criticism of AAP government about not addressing the stubble burning incidents, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday that the saffron party is targeting farmers in Punjab for stubble burning because of their earlier protests against three contentious farm laws of the Centre.
He also accused the party of seeking paddy straw burning as an excuse to take “revenge” from farmers. “I think they hate farmers because of the protests against the farm laws,” said Rai.“The BJP is blaming farmers for burning stubble. They want FIRs to be filed against them. They should stop abusing farmers and stop seeking revenge from them,” he added.Rai said that the farmers are forced to burn stubble in Punjab because the BJP-led Centre did not support the state government’s plan to provide a cash incentive to them for not burning the crop residue.
“The BJP should cooperate with the farmers and present a viable solution for stubble instead of abusing them. The governments of Delhi and Punjab are ready to provide financial assistance to the farmers to prevent stubble burning. It is the BJP-led government at the Centre which has refused support in this regard,” said Rai.