Ban parties that break vows: Farmers to EC

HYDERABAD: The joint action committee (JAC) of turmeric farmers who filed nominations as Independent candidates from Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ban political parties from contesting future polls if they fail to keep the promises they make in their manifestos.


In their first public meeting in Armoor in Nizamabad district on the last day of campaigning, the farmers JAC passed several resolutions including banning political parties from taking part in future elections if they fail to implement the promises made for the agriculture sector. Several turmeric farmers are in the fray as part of a novel protest against the state government not giving it the Minimum Support Price (MSP) they are demanding for their produce. They are seeking a MSP of Rs 15,000 per quintal for turmeric and Rs 3,500 per quintal for jowar. They also passed a resolution demanding the immediate implementation of the Swaminathan committee recommendations for the agriculture sector.

Another important resolution passed by them was that seeds should be supplied only by the state as private traders are charging a heavy price. The farmers also demanded that the government drop all cases booked against them. “The state government will be held responsible if anything happens to farmers. Police have booked many cases against the agitating farmers,” farmers JAC leader Anvesh Reddy said.

The farmers who spoke at the meeting said they were being harassed by the government and urged the EC to ensure that they are not harassed on polling day.

Speakers at the meeting criticised the EC for conducting the election through EVMs despite 185 candidates being in fray. “If the problems of the farmers are not resolved, the next time around, over 10,000 farmers will contest the polls,” said a farmer. After the meeting, that was attended by about 10,000 people, the farmers took out a procession.

The farmers also passed a resolution stating that all 178 of them will remain in the fray and individually campaign for themselves. They had earlier proposed that they will choose one among them in a lottery and seek votes for that candidate only. They also decided to file nominations for the upcoming MPTC and ZPTC elections.