Union minister Venkaiah Naidu speaks in Lok Sabha
Hitting back at the Congress after Rahul Gandhi's barbs, the government today said the party was trying to bat for the farmers' interests after "looting" them for 10 years as it insisted that it was committed to provide relief to those in distress.
Members from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party staged a walkout even as Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh rejected the charge that the government was pro-industrialists, saying the Opposition party is visualising what it wants to see with "coloured glasses".
Replying to a debate on agrarian situation in the country, Mr Singh said the government had relaxed norms for compensation to farmers hit by the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm which had affected 93.81 lakh hectares of farm land as per the latest reports.
"People who looted the farmers, they are now trying to stand for farmers' interest," Mr Singh said. He added that the NDA government will not allow the farmers to suffer and would adequately compensate them for losses.
"People who are talking for farmers now they are wearing coloured glasses. They had mortgaged the country to the corporates. Now they are accusing us of being pro-corporate," Mr Singh said.
Earlier, countering the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government is committed to the interests of the farmers, poor people and rural people and told the Congress to "have patience for five years".
He specifically sought to respond to the issues raised by Rahul Gandhi. "Rahul babu, you (Congress party) were in power for 50 years and we have been in power only 9-10 months," Mr Naidu said, as he listed out various measures taken by the government to help farmers, especially those affected by unseasonal rain and hailstorms.
The counter attack came after Mr Gandhi targeted the government over the problems being faced by farmers, saying the NDA government had "failed" them.
In his first speech in the Budget Session, the Congress Vice President said the government was "ignoring" the farming community and favouring the industrialists and rich people, which was a "blunder" as the farmers will 'harm" the BJP in future.