Farmers body seeks apology from Kangana Ranaut for 'insulting' remarks

The Samyukt Kisan Manch Thursday sought an apology from the BJPs Mandi Lok Sabha candidate Kangana Ranaut for allegedly making insulting remarks against farmers during their 20202021 antifarm laws stirHow can Kangana seek the votes of the farmers and expect our support when she has insulted the farmer community She should first apologise said SKM convener Harish Chauhan hereDuring the 20202021 farmer agitation against the three farm laws Bollywood actor Kangana had allegedly misidentified a woman farmer from Punjab and called her Bilkis Bano an octogenarian who made international headlines during the antiCAA protests earlier in the Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen BaghShe had reportedly shared a tweet alleging that the Shaheen Bagh Dadi also joined the farmers agitation over the new farm laws at various border points of the national capital She retweeted the post with pictures of two elderly women including Bilkis Bano and wrote that the same Dadi who featured in Time Magazine was available in 100 rupeesWhen the Twitter users pointed out that both the women were different Kangana reportedly deleted her tweetAddressing media persons Chauhan said inspite of the fact that 70 per cent of the voters in the state are farmers their issues were never raised by the MPs from the state during the past 10 years The SKM will support those candidates in the ongoing elections who plead the cause of farmers he addedWe will render support to Congress candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh as he has been a part of SKM and has raised our issues in the Vidhan Sabha Chauhan saidThe SKM has prepared a fivepoint demand charter and will support the parties which include these demands in their agenda he said adding that the loans of the farmers are not waived off in HimachalThe apple industry which is the mainstay of the farmers in several districts is in dire straits due to the import of cheaper apple from Iran Inspite of the minimum price of Rs 50 per kg fixed by the government the imported apple is being sold at Rs 40 per kg which is ruinous for the apple industry he saidDemanding the fixation of minimum support price MSP for fruits under the MIS Market Intervention Scheme Chauhan alleged that the Union government has scrapped the MIS and dues of the farmers amounting to Rs 70 crore have not been paid he saidHe said the SKM struggled and several demands were accepted by the state government but the MPs never raised their demands Especially the BJP MP from Shimla SC constituency Suresh Kashyap never raised their demands he addedThe Congress has included MSP for fruits and crops in its manifesto which should be acceptable to all other parties Chauhan saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever