Farmer Suresh Parmar alleges that he was forced to cut his crops before they were ready for harvest
Highlights
- Forced to cut crop before harvest, alleges farmer ahead of PM's rally
- State BJP denies claims it forced MP farmer to clear land for PM's rally
- PM to address massive farmers' convention in Madhya Pradesh on Feb 18
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take a bagful of welfare schemes to farmers when he travels to Madhya Pradesh on February 18, but one farmer says the visit has cost him heavily.
Suresh Parmar, whose family owns 15 acres of land near the proposed site of the prime minister's rally at Sehore, alleges that he was forced to cut down his wheat crop before harvest by officials who want the area cleared. He says that the top district officials came to his land last Thursday.
"A few people came and said we need to harvest the crop as soon as possible or it will be destroyed. We didn't have any choice," said the farmer.
Parmar fears that he may have lost more than a third of his crops as they were not ready for harvest.
The state's BJP government has denied that it forced the farmer to cut his crop.
"I want to clear all doubts on this. The land where the stage is being constructed has been taken by consent. We have not built the stage on any farmer's land and no instruction has gone to farmers to harvest the crop," said agriculture minister Gauri Shankar Bisen.
A grand stage is being planned for PM Modi's event at Sehore, which is nearly 40 km from state capital Bhopal; he is set to address a massive farmers' convention. He is expected to speak on the new Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana or crop insurance scheme that aims to insure farmers against crop damage.
Parmar's nephew Kapil told NDTV: "We want the prime minister to give us insurance against our crop loss. He is coming for us so I hope we will get some compensation for our losses."