"Whatever dialogue we had with Naresh Tikait and whatever statements we see in media, we can say with confidence that the farmers have understood BJP. They know by now the BJP did not mean any harm to them," said BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi
New Delhi: At a time when the farm community and Jat voters are expected to play crucial roles in the ensuing assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the BJP has claimed that the agrarian people have 'understood' the genuine sincerity of the saffron party.
"Whatever dialogue we had with Naresh Tikait and whatever statements we see in media, we can say with confidence that the farmers have understood BJP. They know by now the BJP did not mean any harm to them," BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, a former Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, told a TV channel on Monday.
Naresh Tikait is also a farmer leader and brother of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait. "….They are very much with us," she asserted adding as far as issues of farmers are concerned, "they (farmers) have every right to ventilate their grievances and to bring issues before the government".
Ms Sarangi said the BJP has always stood by "the anna datas (farmers)" and will "always stand by them".
Defending the government's decision to enact the set of three farm laws, Ms Sarangi said, those were brought in because the ruling party felt it would give "certain advantages" to the farming community. But as the farmers could not be convinced, they were repealed because the BJP leadership did not want the Indian agrarian community to face any 'discomfort'.
According to surveys and experts around 73 per cent of voters in Uttar Pradesh had shown confidence in the BJP and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 leadership and this vote share was about 90 per cent for the saffron party during the 2017 assembly polls.
