Farmers Movement Archive

If I cry today, I won’t be able to fulfil Devi Lal’s dream: Haryana deputy CM

NUH: “If there is any risk to MSP, I am ready to quit the government,” deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala told TOI on Saturday after a public meeting to celebrate the 108th birth anniversary of Devi Lal in Nuh’s Hilalpur village that was marked by the unveiling of a 42-foot-high statue of the former CM. It was a parallel event on a day Dushyant’s grandfather and INLD leader OP Chautala organised a mega rally in Jind to celebrate the legacy of Devi Lal and mark a ‘comeback’ into the Haryana political landscape after a long hiatus because of a 10-year prison sentence. Under pressure from farmers, his party’s main vote base, to quit and picketed out of his constituency in Jind for months, Dushyant continued to put up a brave face, saying the BJP-JJP government had government brought every single grain from farmers on minimum support price (MSP) and increased the number of mandis for trade. Citing direct benefit transfers to back accounts, he asked, ‘Has a single farmer objected to that? Nobody has. We assure that in future too.” Dushyant dismissed OP Chautala’s remarks, made in an interview to TOI, about mid-term polls becoming an increasing likelihood in Haryana. “I have been hearing this for a long time. First, they said the alliance will fall in two months, then they said 6 months, then a year, and later, a year and a half. But we have been running the government successfully for the last two years,” the JJP chief said. Asked why the event was held in Nuh, he said it was the only district where Devi Lal’s statue had not been installed. Earlier, Dushyant underlined the state government’s commitment to farmers, ensuring jobs for locals through 75% quota and other initiatives like ensuring job applicants get examination centres in their home districts. Dushyant said he had taken the protests in Jind, and his constituency Uchana Kalan, in his stride. “People will protest. They have the democratic right to show (black) flags. But if they break the law, there will be strict action,” he said. Accusing the 40 farmer leaders who form the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which has been leading the protest against the three new central farm laws since last November, of spreading misinformation, Dushyant said, “It has been two years and two crop procurements have taken place. Has any mandi been affected? Has any farmer sold below MSP? No. There were misconceptions created by these (SKM) leaders.” He admitted that the farmers’ protest may have hurt his vote bank but said it has benefited him equally. “Crises and opportunities are the same word. I don’t see it as a crisis. If I cry today, I won’t be able to fulfil the dream of Devi Lal.”

The Times of India

2021-09-26

Gurgaon