New Delhi

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for his attack on NDA government on farmers’ issues and his proposed ‘padayatra’ in Telangana, state BJP today said the Congress Vice President should first talk about the farmers’ suicides during 2004 to 2014, when Congress was in power.

In an open letter to Rahul, Telangana BJP president and MLA G Kishan Reddy said, “Have you consoled the families of deceased farmers and tried to offer them confidence? Don’t you see suicides during your rule? Are you not aware that Union Minister Sharad Pawar said in Rajya Sabha that 21,810 farmers committed suicide in undivided Andhra Pradesh during 2004-2014?

“The poor and the farmers are not remembered (by you) when in power. Everybody is remembered after losing power,” he said.

Rahul is scheduled to visit Telangana next week to interact with farmers facing agrarian crisis and also to console families of farmers who allegedly committed suicide.

Claiming that three lakh farmers ended their lives during the last 10 years when Congress was in power, Reddy said Congress ruled the country for 57 years in the 68 years since independence.

Citing some land allotments reportedly made to private companies in Hyderabad when Congress was in power, Reddy alleged that the Amethi MP “appears to have forgotten about lakhs of acres handed over to corporates by Congress government”.

“Gandhi remained silent when large number of farmers committed suicides in Maharashtra and when lakhs of acres was given away to bogus investors in undivided AP,” he alleged.

The Congress Vice-President is giving a wrong interpretation when farmer-friendly changes are proposed by the present NDA government to land acquisition bill, Reddy alleged.

“The proposed changes are aimed at promoting manufacturing sector for the purpose of job creation. Gandhi should come to Telangana only after giving an answer to the farmers suicides from 2004 to 2014,” he said.

PTI