Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship crop insurance scheme, which had entered its third year of operation, was inflicting damage on farmers by deducting premium from their bank accounts and not giving any compensation for crop loss. Far from getting any benefits, farmers were being forced to run from pillar to post for their claims, he said.
“This crop insurance scheme is a sham... It should be immediately abolished. In fact, it can very well be described as the BJP’s dacoity scheme,” Mr. Kejriwal said while addressing an Aam Aadmi Party’s public meeting at the Ramlila Maidan here.
The Delhi CM was in poll-bound Rajasthan to kick off the AAP’s campaign for the coming Assembly elections.
Flawed policies
Mr. Kejriwal, also the party’s national convenor, said the BJP should tell the people “how much bribe” it had received from the insurance companies to fleece the farmers. “In a State like Rajasthan, a large number of farmers have been forced to commit suicide because of the government’s flawed policies.”
Mr. Kejriwal said the Prime Minister had gone back on his promise to give a compensation much higher than the cost of crops in the event of loss. Despite making rounds of banks, insurance companies and the government offices, farmers were not getting “even a penny,” he said.
Targets Cong. too
Mr. Kejriwal targeted both the BJP and the Congress for the plight of common people, whose life had become difficult because of corruption and price rise, and called upon the State’s electorate to reject both of them in the polls. “The people of Delhi did it. They kicked out the 100-year-old Congress and the 40-year-old BJP. I can see an identical atmosphere of change in Rajasthan. The key to change is in your hands,” he said.
The AAP leader also targeted Mr. Modi over alleged corruption in the Rafale aircraft deal and asked why he was fearing a probe by the CBI if he was honest. He said the CBI chief was sent on leave in a midnight decision because Mr. Modi feared that he was going to register an FIR in connection with the deal the next morning.
Mr. Kejriwal called upon the State’s people to vote for the AAP and dislodge both the BJP and the Congress from governance.
He also released the party’s manifesto for the Assembly elections, with the locution, “Badli Hai Dilli, Ab Badlengey Rajasthan”.
Earlier, Mr. Kejriwal went to Shaheed Smarak, where farmer leader Rampal Jat was sitting on an indefinite fast. He offered him a glass of juice to break the fast.
