New Delhi:
Under attack after Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh blamed love affairs and impotency for farmers suicide, BJP today said the number of such suicides had come down under the present government due to the "pro-farmer" measures taken by it.
The party in a statement said Mr Singh's remarks was taken out of context and recalled that the previous UPA government had also given similar replies in Parliament.
BJP also cited official figures to claim that the number of suicides by farmers had come down under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, 11,772 farmers committed suicide in 2013. It's a matter of relief that due to positive steps taken by the Modi government, the numbers came down in 2014. 5,650 farmers ended their lives in 2014, meaning suicide numbers fell down by half in the initial year of the NDA rule," BJP said in a statement.
Defending Mr Singh's written reply in Parliament yesterday, BJP said he had cited the data provided by NCRB and it was not the Agriculture Ministry's job to collate figures of farmers' suicides.
The Ministry under the previous UPA government had also replied in a similar format, it said, citing answers given on February 26, 2013 and March 30, 2012 in Parliament, it said.
Sections of media distorted the reply to reach fabricated conclusions, BJP said, calling it "totally unfair".
"There are two facts. Farmers suicide numbers have come down. Secondly, showing sensitivity, the government for the first time has put out details of farmers suicide on the NCRB website so that details could be put before people transparently," BJP said.