No assurance given by CM Chouhan to make 'farming profitable' during his current tenure: MP govt to Assembly

Making agriculture profitable has been the Bharatiya Janata Partys BJP main poll plank in the state and at the Centre to counter the Congress promise of providing farm loan waivers.When asked about his question, Tanwar told PTI the state governments response shows that the ruling regime was double-faced.The prime minister had announced in this regard.

The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday informed the state legislative Assembly that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had not made any promise or given any assurance to make ''farming profitable'' during his current tenure.

State Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel made the admission in a written reply to a question by Congress MLA Bapu Singh Tanwar during the winter session of the state Assembly.

''Has the chief minister made any announcement or given assurance regarding making agriculture a profitable business during the tenure of the present government?'' the MLA from Rajgarh had asked.

Tanvar had also asked if given (assurance), when and where had the chief minister made such an announcement or given assurance about making farming profitable.

Chouhan had been the CM from November 2005 until December 2018, when the BJP lost power to Congress in the Assembly elections. He returned as the chief minister on March 23, 2020, after the resignation of a string of Congress MLAs reduced the then Kamal Nath government to a minority. Making agriculture profitable has been the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) main poll plank in the state and at the Centre to counter the Congress' promise of providing farm loan waivers.

When asked about his question, Tanwar told PTI the state government's response shows that the ruling regime was double-faced.

''The prime minister had announced in this regard. The Madhya Pradesh chief minister has been announcing on every platform about making farming profitable, but the state government in the state assembly denied that any such announcement or assurance was made,'' Tanwar claimed.

The Congress MLA alleged the BJP was only deceiving farmers.

The state agriculture minister could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Meanwhile, state BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi told PTI he will not be able to comment on the matter, as he was unaware of the question and the response given in the state Assembly.