Restrictions on Cotton, subsidy for Mutton: UPA's gross injustice to Gujarat!

Congress style of Governance- ban on cotton, subsidy to mutton!

Cotton export ban causes loss of thousands of crores of the hardworking cotton farmers of Gujarat

UPA takes pride in ushering in the pink revolution but stoned silence on the well being of Gujarat’s cotton farmers

This is only one of the countless examples of an insensitive UPA Government towards Gujarat and its people

What happens when the thirst for endless vilification against one person turns into a full-fledged battle against a state and its hardworking people? What happens when a party desperate to gain foothold in a state where it has been rejected for 30 years, is unable to do the same yet again? What happens when myopia overshadows any concrete vision for progress?

If one wants to see all these things happening, one must see how the Congress-led UPA has been treating the people of Gujarat, not sparring even the poorest of the poor merely to settle personal scores.

Shri Narendra Modi once shared that when the Congress assumed power in 2004, the first determination they expressed was to arrest Shri Modi and dismiss his Government under Article 356, an old Congress way of scuttling any form of political opposition. Today 8 years have passed and that has far from happened yet, the Congress has not given up home. Along with endlessly vilifying Shri Modi and throwing the choicest of abuses at him, the Party has taken to victimizing the hardworking people of Gujarat in any endeavor they succeed in!

Take Cotton Production for example. Today Gujarat is the biggest producer of cotton in the country. From 98 lakh bales last year, production shot up to 116 lakh bales this year. Union Minister Sharad Pawar himself vouched for Gujarat being a top cotton producer on the floor of the Parliament, the sanctum sanctorum of our democracy that In ordinary circumstances, a Government would go out of its way in order to provide support to the farmers of Gujarat so that they can prosper and more cotton from Gujarat reaches not only various parts of India but also to the people across the world.

But, this was sadly not to be. In a unilateral announcement, the Centre decided to ban exports of cotton. Being the largest cotton producing state and the state with the largest cotton exports, the Gujarati farmer was the hardest hit.

Yet again, when all doors of justice in New Delhi closed it was Shri Narendra Modi who came out all guns blazing in support of the cotton farmers. “Immediately withdraw cotton export ban” this was his affirmation to the Prime Minister.

He further asked why was the cotton export ban imposed when prices were at an all time high? It was due to this that prices came down and the farmers lost a whooping Rs. 7000 crores. For a Government that is dealing with a Rs. 1.86 lakh crore and 2G scam of 1.76 lakh crore, this amount might seem loose change but for the farmers who toils day in and out, it is a loss that will never be compensated.

Not only that, the Centre is unable to provide the farmers of Gujarat a fair support price that will bring more money to his home.

Unfair to Cotton but Incentives to Mutton!

The attitude of the Congress led UPA drastically changes when it comes to meat export. At a time when Gujarat celebrates the advent of a second Green Revolution in agriculture and a White Revolution in record milk production, the energies of the Centre are devoted towards another ‘revolution’- the Pink Revolution of giving India a name for itself in production and export of meat.

The same UPA that has left no stone unturned to give every possible trouble to cotton farmers of Gujarat is heralding in a Pink Revolution by offering subsidy for mutton export. Not only that, Shri Modi pointed out that the PM has doled out 15 crore subsidy for those who want to start slaughterhouses. There is more- 50% transportation subsidy is given to transport the beef and mutton to the ports. Mutton shops also enjoy no income tax for 5 years.

It is indeed a matter of shame that the land of Mahatma Gandhi takes pride in becoming the world’s largest beef exporting nation!

Let this injustice against Gujarat stop!

The Congress led UPA has a lot to answer for

What is the crime of the hardworking cotton farmers of Gujarat that they had to undergo losses of thousands of crores only because of the whims and fancies of an anti-people Central Government?

Why should cotton get an export ban but mutton receive every possible subsidy?

Is it a matter of pride that the nation of Mahatma Gandhi is poised to become the world’s largest beef exporter?

Why is the Centre making the people of Gujarat scapegoats in their petty battle against an individual who has taken the state to such colossal heights of development?

The above facts and questions make one thing further clear- for a strong, developed and glorious Gujarat it is better that the Hand that has sounded the death knell of a nation’s prosperity be kept miles away from Gandhinagar!