Congratulating the PM for Seoul Peace Prize, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said that he had made the country proud. “We all know that whenever prime minister goes to someplace he always brings some incentives for the people,” he added, pointing out that farmers remained a priority for NDA.

Along with CM Yogi Adityanath and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Prime Minister Modi launched the PM-KISAN scheme and transferred the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. He then interacted with farmers across the country via video conferencing.

Addressing the crowd at Gorakhpur, PM Modi chanted the slogan, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”. “Today farmers from across the country have joined us in Gorakhpur. I extend my thanks to all of you for joining us. I have come to Gorakhpur many times, but today is a historic day. Lal Bahadur Shastri had given us the slogan of ‘Jai jawan, jai kisan,’ but with the launch of this scheme, we have rolled out the biggest initiative for farmers since India’s independence,” he said.

PM Modi also criticised the previous governments for ignoring farmers’ interests. “Previous governments had spoken a lot about improving the lives of farmers, but they never had the intention,” he said. He also ripped into Congress’s farm loan waiver and said that the party remembers farmers only during polls and the scheme was an “easy solution” that would not benefit everyone but only Congress middlemen.

“The Opposition was never bothered about farmers. They gave ‘rabris’ (loan waivers), but we wanted effective solutions," he added.

Talking about PM-KISAN scheme, PM said, "The NDA governemnt is making the impossible possible. The benefits of this scheme can be availed without the benefits of Aadhaar. I will not allow any middlemen to snatch the rights of the farmers. The money that the central government sends to the farmer will be directly disbursed in his bank account. This is the new India.”

Taking a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Modi also challenged him to differentiate among various crops. "He cannot distinguish among the plants of paddy, barley, wheat and (maize). If he is able to distinguish the plants, I will garland and welcome him.

Warning opposition parties against doing politics over the scheme, he said, "There are however few states that want to politicise the issue. They are not sending us the list. I am warning them that if the list does not reach us, the curse of the farmers' will destroy the politics. You might be in opposition but the farmers belong to this country," he added.

Gorakhpur Launch

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