The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has blamed both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for ignoring the agriculture crisis in rural areas that is leading to mass migration to urban areas in Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing rallies in support of the CPI(M) candidate here, Jagat Ram, State party secretary Rakesh Singha said the problems posed by wild animals were the prime reason for the destruction of agriculture. Non-remunerative prices were driving fruit growers from farming.
Left leaders jointly addressed rallies in the apple belt of the State on Wednesday.
They said the CPI(M), along with mass organisations such as Kisan Sabha and other allies, had many times staged sit-ins outside the Assembly and requested political leaders to take concrete steps against the problems posed by wild animals and monkeys, but the protest was not taken seriously, the party leaders alleged. More than 60 per cent of the land had been left barren by the farmers in the State and with the problems posed by five lakh monkeys, the State’s economy was suffering an estimated loss of around Rs. 2,000 crore.
The rates of fertilizers and pesticides have increased manifold in the past few years, making agriculture a non-remunerative proposition, the CPI(M) said. The Left, which has been working as a third political force in the hill State for many years, appealed to the farmers to vote for its candidates for saving agriculture, since it is still the mainstay for the rural people in the hill State.
The CPI(M) staged a roadshow in Jubbal tehsil in Shimla. The party’s urban units also did a door-to-door campaign in main towns such as Shimla, Solan and Nahan.