Jaipur, Jan 24 (IANS) A BJP legislator entered the Rajasthan Assembly building with a decorated basket containing locusts here on Friday to protest against the Congress-led government’s alleged apathy towards the state’s farmers who have suffered crop losses due to locust attacks.
The innovative and unconventional form of protest by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Bihari Lal caught everyone’s attention as soon he entered the Assembly building with a basket on his head.
However, all were left stunned after he showed the basket — which looked more like a ‘corporate gift’ — containing locusts that have been creating havoc on the agricultural fields in western Rajasthan.
Farmers in 11 out of 33 districts of Rajasthan have suffered huge losses due to what is being said as the worst locust attacks on agricultural fields in the last three decades.
These insects are entering western Rajasthan villages through the India-Pakistan border.
Speaking to the media, he said: “Farmers have suffered the worst. However, the state government seems all focussed on protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The compensation should be distributed fast as the farmers have incurred heavy losses due to locust attacks.”
The farmers have been beating vessels, lighting fires, driving vehicles without a silencer all through the night to shoo away the insects. They are also demanding aerial spray of pesticides on the locust swarms.
However, nothing significant has been done yet to address the issue, sources said.
–IANS
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