The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has held the BJP government responsible as farmer suicides surge in Gujarat, with six farmers resorting to taking their lives in just 25 days. AAP Gujarat Sah-Prabhari Durgesh Pathak said farmers are being driven to suicide by BJP’s repression, questioning why crores in loans can be waived for Adani and Ambani but not for farmers. He demanded that, like the AAP government in Punjab, Gujarat’s BJP government must give farmers ₹50,000 per hectare for their destroyed crops.
Addressing a press conference alongside AAP Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar, senior AAP leader and Gujarat Sah-Prabhari Durgesh Pathak stated, “In this country, there has been enough discussion on farmers’ issues and this is not a complex problem that requires major research or experts. The issue is extremely simple and if the intention is clean, it can be resolved easily, but if the intention is wrong, then finding a solution becomes difficult.”
Durgesh Pathak revealed that in the last 25 days, six farmers in Gujarat have committed suicide. “These farmers were from Una taluka of Junagadh, Bichhiya in Jasdan Vidhan Sabha, Ardoi village of Kotda-Sangani taluka, Sutrapada taluka, Ishvariya village of Visavadar, and Madbad village. Six suicides from six different villages testify that the crisis has become extremely serious,” he shared.
Highlighting the contrast between perception and ground reality, he continued, “The truth of Gujarat usually does not reach us. We see the developed areas along a few rivers and feel satisfied, but the reality is that farmers there are being pushed to die by suicide. Unseasonal rain is certainly one factor, but overall farming has become a loss-making occupation. The government is not providing any help.”
“Farmers do not get fertiliser, seeds, or bank loans on time. They are forced to take loans from middlemen at high interest rates and are continuously harassed. This is the same vicious cycle in which Maharashtra was once trapped. Today, Gujarat appears stuck in the same cycle and the six suicides in the last 25 days are living proof of it,” he added.
Explaining the ongoing agitation across the state, the senior AAP leader said, “For the last two months, the Aam Aadmi Party has been running a statewide movement for farmers in Gujarat. The ‘karda pratha’ there is a major tool of exploitation. When farmers go to sell produce at fixed rates, traders buy a few kilos at that rate and then reduce the rate afterwards. In protest against this practice, our senior leaders Rajubhai Karpada and Pravin Ram, along with 67 workers, have been in jail for more than a month. The dictatorial BJP government has locked them up. Their only demand was to end this practice. In the same state where Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi March, so many people are in jail today for a legitimate demand.”
Referring to the large turnout at recent farmer rallies, he added, “In Surendranagar district, lakhs of farmers attended the rally of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. Since then, the senior leadership of the party and the Gujarat unit have been running movements across the state and farmer mahapanchayats are being held everywhere.”
The AAP Gujarat Sah-Prabhari asserted, “Our demand is simple: if the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab and Delhi can give compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare, then why not in Gujarat? This is possible in other states as well. But the Gujarat government is not willing to listen. The result is that farmers across Gujarat are distressed, agitated, and forced to cry over their situation. These six suicides are the latest example.”
Appealing directly to the Centre, Durgesh Pathak said, “I appeal to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to take note of the farmers’ situation and try to resolve this crisis. If the loans of Adani-Ambani and big industrialists can be waived, then why not help farmers? The Prime Minister himself has said many times that farmers should get good compensation when crops are destroyed. We are only demanding what the Prime Minister has already said earlier. We hope the BJP will show some sensitivity and help the distressed farmers of Gujarat. If they do not help, farmers across Gujarat will unite and give the BJP a fitting reply.”
Meanwhile, AAP’s Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar stated, “In Punjab, unprecedented rainfall caused floods across more than four lakh hectares of land and crops were destroyed, but the sensitive Aam Aadmi Party government there provided compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare within just 30 days, which is the highest and fastest compensation ever. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann implemented schemes like ‘jiska khet uski ret,’”
On the other hand, she said, the Central BJP government announced a package of only ₹1,600 crore for Punjab under the name of aerial surveys and headline management, but not a single rupee has been given till today. Far from releasing the package, they have not even given permission to use the State Disaster Response Fund money. All this happened due to petty politics.
Pointing to the BJP’s treatment of farmers nationwide, Priyanka Kakkar added, “Whenever farmers in this country were in crisis, BJP ministers ran vehicles over them. More than 700 farmers gave their life away and the BJP ecosystem called them terrorists. They cannot catch real terrorists but hammer thick nails in farmers’ pathways and defame them. Losing hope in such a government, six farmers in Gujarat recently died by suicide. These were the same farmers who were trapped by Prime Minister Modi’s false promises that their incomes would double by 2022. They believed that just as PM Modi waives lakhs of crores for his capitalist friends, their loans of ₹1.5–2 lakh would also be waived, but that did not happen.”
Warning of the consequences of flawed policies, she said, “These farmers trusted the promise that the MSP for cotton would be increased by ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 per quintal, but the Prime Minister surrendered before Trump and imposed zero import duty on American cotton, making American cotton cheaper than Indian cotton. Two months ago, Arvind Kejriwal warned in a press conference that a farmer mortgages his house to sow cotton in June–July so that he can sell it in November and run his household, but due to the 19 August policy, farmers are now getting less than ₹900 per 20 kg.”
