Agencies/New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told thousands of supporters his government was devoted to the poor yesterday, directly tackling criticism he has governed for the rich and failed farmers in his first year in office.
On the eve of the government’s first anniversary Modi travelled south from New Delhi to a region hard hit by crop losses and bad weather to counter opposition jibes that he is losing support of rural areas, home to 70% of Indians.
“Every moment of my time and every particle of my body is determined to secure the welfare of the poor,” he told a jubilant crowd that waited for hours in sweltering heat in the town of Mathura to hear the speech.
Distress among farmers suffering from lower commodity prices and damage caused by early rains has weakened Modi’s support in parts of the rural north, including around Mathura where at least two farmer suicides have been blamed on crop losses.
Modi vowed to end the rural crisis, farmer suicides and corruption in rural government schemes in the remaining four years of his tenure.
He insisted he had the farmers’ welfare at heart, after criticism that legislation designed to make it easier for businesses to acquire farmland would worsen their plight.
Modi was put on the defensive last month by the suicide of a farmer at a rally in New Delhi against the land bill, a death seized on by opponents as an example of his administration’s insensitivity towards those on the land.
But the prime minister said some 300,000 struggling farmers had killed themselves since independence.
“We don’t have to do politics on this issue but we must understand that an Indian has died. Farmers are facing a lot of issues,” the prime minister told the rally.
Modi promised that his government was working to improve the quality of soil and seeds as well as upgrading the efficiency of the largely state-run fertiliser industry.
“We have planned a prime minister’s irrigation scheme which will reach every farmer within five years,” he said.
“We promise to provide 24x7 electricity to farmers. Our levels of electricity generation have increased in the last one year.”
The land bill has proved the most contentious piece of legislation since Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to victory last May, encountering major obstacles in parliament.
Protests by farmers, led by the main opposition Congress Party, have drawn tens of thousands of people and served as a rallying point for anger among the rural poor towards the new government.
The proposed bill exempts projects related to defence, rural housing and power, along with industrial corridors, from the requirement that 80% of the affected landowners must agree to a sale.
It also scraps the need for a “social impact assessment” to find out how many people would be affected by the loss of land.
According to the last census in 2011, India has around 120mn farmers and an additional 145mn agricultural labourers.
Modi listed his achievements on the economy - such as lowering inflation and raising billions of rupees through coal field auctions - while hammering the governments that came before.
“I must say that leaders in the past have failed to achieve what I have achieved in just one year,” Modi said, to cheers.
An opinion poll released by TV network Times Now showed strong support for Modi, with 65% of respondents saying the “good days” promised in his campaign had already arrived or were coming soon.
But criticism by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also hit home, with 44% echoing his jibe that Modi ran a “suit-boot” government, in other words one that favoured the wealthy.
Modi listed the names of over two dozen welfare schemes launched in the last 365 days and reminded supporters of the massive corruption that tainted the Congress government that preceded him.
“Bad days have vanished. Those who plundered wealth and cheated you have been defeated. They can target me but I will continue to protect you,” said Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to the crowd before leaving a rally venue in Mathura yesterday.
