In a first, 111 Tamil Nadu farmers to contest 2019 Polls against PM Modi

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » India

In a first, 111 Tamil Nadu farmers to contest 2019 Polls against PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election from Varanasi as Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate

Saturday March 23, 2019 8:33 PM, ummid.com News Network

Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu): Some 111 farmers from Tamil Nadu have announced to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election from Varanasi as Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

Prime Minister Modi loves to claim he has done this and that for the first time - many a time wrongly. But, it is definitely for the first time in India that so many farmers have decided to contest election against a serving prime minister.

Tamil Nadu farmers' leader P Ayyakannu, who is also president of the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, said the decision to contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh was to urge the BJP to include in their manifesto their demands, including "profitable prices for farm produce," would be fulfilled.

Speaking to news agency PTI, the leader, who spearheaded agitations in Delhi in 2017 for over 100 days, said the "moment they assure in their manifesto that our demands will be fulfilled, we will drop our decision to contest against Modi."

"In the event of that not happening they would go ahead and contest against PM Modi", he said.

"The decision to contest polls has the support of farmers everywhere and the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee", Ayyakannu said.

"We are not against the BJP or our PM Modi. Before assuming power, Modi ji promised fulfilling our demands and assured to double our income. Even today he is our Prime Minister and the BJP is the ruling party and that is why we are making this demand to them", he said.

Varanasi Lok Sabha seat comprises of five Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh including Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantt. and Sevapuri.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Modi had defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister by more than 350,000 votes.

For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.