By IANS,
Raipur : Congress treasurer Motilal Vora Saturday said the Chhattisgarh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had informed a central government panel that it did not want a hike in minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.
“This (BJP) government is shedding crocodile tears by criticising the Congress-led UPA government (in the centre) for not raising the MSP for paddy to Rs.1,000 per quintal while the fact is totally different,” the Congress leader told reporters.
“The Raman Singh government wanted unchanged MSP for paddy,” he said. Chhattisgarh informed the central panel, set up to look into various states’ demand for a hike in paddy MSP, that it wanted no hike in the MSP.
However, later the state sent a letter to the central government seeking Rs.1,000 per quintal MSP, he added.
“BJP is playing politics on the issue. The central government that has recently raised the support price by Rs.105 per quintal and now MSP for paddy has gone up to Rs.850 per quintal,” Vora said.
But the BJP said it had always demanded Rs.1,000 per quintal MSP for paddy and the Congress leaders were making false claims about the Chhattisgarh government.
“In a letter dated Oct 16, 2007, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told the prime minister that he strongly recommends enhancement of MSP for paddy to Rs.1,000,” a BJP statement said.
It added that the state government had never asked the centre not to raise the paddy support price.