Mumbai: BJP MP Sujay Vikhe Patil’s comment infuriated the farmers of Ahmednagar. Earlier this year, the Centre announced PM’s subsidy for farmers, thus, Rs6,000 was to be deposited in the farmers’ account yearly in three instalments. The amount for the first instalment was deposited recently in the farmers’ account.
While campaigning for BJP candidate Ram Shinde in the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency, the MP stated the farmers can accept the money deposited by PM Modi in their accounts, but they cannot accept the lotus (which is BJP’s symbol).
The comment was made at the farmers’ children, so a group of farmers’ children returned the Rs2,000 cheque to Patil. He also took a jibe at the farmers who attended opposition leader Rohit Pawar’s rally at Ahmednagar, labelling them as traitors and stating the money spent to uplift them, could have been used for the poors..
Datta Dhage, a farmer of the Sangamner tehsil returned a cheque of Rs2,000 to Vikhe Patil. “Patilji’s comment is an insult to us. We won’t die if we won’t get Rs2,000. For a human being, self-respect is more than anything,” he said.
A similar incident had happened last year when a Nashik onion farmer returned a Rs1,900 cheque due to price hike and low-profit margin.
