By IANS
New Delhi : Expressing concern at the rising incidents of suicides by debt-ridden farmers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday asked the government to call a special session of parliament immediately to discuss the problems of agriculture.
BJP president Rajnath Singh made this demand in his inaugural address to the closed-door national executive meeting of his party here.
“Starvation deaths have increased in our country. At present, there is a 390-million-strong labour force in the country. Among them, 225 million are engaged in agriculture, 50 million in industries and 105 million in services. This data makes it clear that the production by more than half of the labour force is minimal,” Singh told the BJP national executive members.
“The government should call a special session soonest to discuss farmers’ suicides and what can be done to tackle the situation,” he said.
Past several years have seen a spate of suicides by farmers, especially in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, who could not repay their farm loans.
The daylong meet deliberated on the proposals and resolutions planned to be taken up at the party’s national council meeting in the open session at the Ramlila Ground Monday and Tuesday.
“This time there will be no separate economic resolution. Instead, a resolution on the state of agriculture of the country will highlight the grim situation being faced by the farmers and farm labour.
“This time there will be only two resolutions, political and agriculture,” Singh said.
“The national executive is not passing any resolutions separately. Instead, the suggestions of the executive members will be incorporated and the whole matter will be put to debate and vote at the council meet,” Rajnath Singh added.
The BJP national council is supposed to meet at least once a year just as the national executive meets every three months. But the council meet is often not held for even two years at a stretch.
The upcoming national council meet has been summoned formally to amend the BJP constitution in accordance with the recommendation of a committee chaired by senior leader Sushma Swaraj to set aside 33 percent quota for women in the party’s candidate list for assembly and parliamentary elections.
However, the highlight of the three-day event is the emergence of L.K. Advani from the shadow of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
This is BJP’s first national executive/national council meet after Advani was named the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections.
At the last national executive meet held in Bhopal in September, Advani’s followers had started a campaign to anoint the former deputy prime minister as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. However, Vajpayee sent a message in the form of a poem, promising the party leaders that “I will be amidst you soon”.