BSP supremo Mayawati assaults BJP govt over farmers' cane dues

Lucknow, Mar 25 BSP supremo Mayawati Monday hit out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over rising cane arrears to farmers, asking why it can't act tough against the erring sugar mill owners.

"How can the UP sugarcane farmers be glad and prosperous when their arrears payments add up to Rs. 10 thousand crores ? This is an issue to consider on. Anti-farmers and pro-capitalist BJP government need not make wrong claims," Mayawati said in a tweet.

"Why is BJP not acting intense against the mill owners like the BSP government and getting all the overdue debts of the farmers cleared?" she inquired.

On Sunday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra assaulted the Uttar Pradesh government over unpaid dues of sugarcane farmers and alleged that 'chowkidars' (watchmen) were working for the rich and are not made a big deal about poor people.

She had also shared a media report on Twitter that guaranteed the levy of sugarcane farmers had crossed Rs 10,000 crore in the state.