NEW DELHI: Keeping up his vocal stance, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanatah with a slew of demands for the farmers in the state. The Member of Parliament from Pilibhit had previously argued that the agitating farmers who held a mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar be engaged in talks, while also showing his disapproval of a bureaucrat in a viral video from Haryana who was seen calling upon the police to sternly deal with the agitating farmers.
Gandhi in the letter has also sought that the PM Kisan Nidhi instalment of Rs 6,000 per year to the farmers be doubled, with the state contributing the additional amount from its kitty. Gandhi has said the state assisted price (SAP) of sugarcane should be increased to Rs 400 a quintal in line with the demands of the sugarcane growers in the state.
He has also sought that there should be a mechanism for the procurement of sugarcane by the sharecroppers also. Seeking Rs 200 per quintal bonus on the procurement of paddy and wheat, Gandhi has also said that arrangements of procuring all the produces of the farmers be ensured in UP. He has also stressed in the letter that farmers are facing the stress of increased electricity costs in rural parts of the state, which should on priority be reduced. Gandhi also flagged the issue of stray cattle, saying that crops are damaged for which the state needs to address the issue.