New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday hit back at Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his "anti-farmer DNA" remarks against the opposition party and said that blaming India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for "all your failures" has become a little boring now.
Chouhan on Friday accused the Congress of having "anti-farmer" DNA, saying the party never gave priority to the farm sector throughout its rule post Independence.
Replying to a discussion on the working of his ministry in the Rajya Sabha, Chouhan had said the agriculture sector was ignored and priorities were misplaced during the Congress rule.
People had to eat bad wheat imported from America during Nehru's tenure, he had said.
Hitting back at Chouhan, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "Dear @ChouhanShivraj, part-time Agriculture Minister and full-time Sangh Pracharak, I must remind you of the historic developments witnessed in the agricultural sector under former PM Jawaharlal Nehru ji and other PMs during the Congress/UPA Governments."
Listing the achievements under various Congress governments, Khera said the Green Revolution boosted wheat production from 12 million tons in 1965 to 20 million tons by 1970.
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and other institutions were established, developing new agricultural technologies, he pointed out.
"Major irrigation projects like the Bhakra Nangal and Hirakud Dams increased irrigated land from 22 million hectares in 1951 to 38 million hectares by 1965. Under Narasimha Rao, agricultural exports rose, with their share in total exports increasing from 10 per cent in 1990 to 20 per cent by 1996," he said.
Khera said the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), launched in 2007, boosted rice, wheat and pulse production from 218 million tons in 2007 to 265 million tons in 2014.
"The list can go on. Whereas under Mr Modi: Over 750 farmers died fighting for their rights while the government paid no heed," he alleged.
Khera further said GST increased farming costs, with taxes on tractors (12 per cent), tires (18 per cent) and fertilizers (5 per cent).
MSP increases under the BJP have remained much lower than during the times of the UPA, not keeping up with inflation, he said.
The promise to double the farmers' income by 2022 was unmet, with real income growing only 2.8 per cent annually from 2015-16 to 2018-19, Khera said.
Farmer debt has surged by 58 per cent since 2013, leading to a high rate of suicides, he added.
"Frankly, blaming Nehru for all your failures has become a little boring now. Do better," the Congress leader said.
In his remarks in the Rajya Sabha, Chouhan had said, "Congress ke DNA mein hi kisan-virodh hai. Aaj se nahi, prarambh se hi Congress ki prathmiktayein galat rahi hai (Congress DNA is anti-farmer. Not from today, but since the beginning, it has misplaced priorities)."