Kerala - Alappuzha   

Viswan: UDF politicising farmers’ plight

ALAPPUZHA: Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener Vaikom Viswan has alleged that the Congress-led Opposition in the State is masterminding a major ploy to prevent the Union government from extending any assistance to the State by politicising the plight of rain-hit paddy farmers in Kuttanad.

He was speaking at a function held to commemorate the first death anniversary of Students Federation of India (SFI) leader Sujith here on Sunday.

Mr. Viswan said the United Democratic Front (UDF) was trying to project the damage caused by rain as a man-made calamity so that the Union government would not help the State, which would, in turn, help the UDF blame the State government of doing little to help the beleaguered farmers.

He alleged that the UDF, under the leadership of Oommen Chandy, was spreading malicious lies that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had caused the damage by opposing combine harvesters in Kuttanad.

The reality is that the rains made usage of machines impossible in Kuttanad, the LDF convener said.

The UDF is continuing its habit of turning every developmental step taken by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government into a controversy and stalling them, Mr. Viswan said.

The LDF, on the other hand, was more than receptive to the troubles of the farmers and in its tenure had made the paddy purchase price cross the Rs.1,000 per quintal mark.

More steps to prop up the struggling farmers are in the pipeline, the LDF convener said.

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