Get rid of Modi-Shah leadership, Maharashtra farm panel chief to BJP

Mumbai : Coming down heavily on the "anti-farmer" policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a prominent farm activist on Tuesday urged the BJP to "get rid of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah" after the election defeat in five states.

Farmers leader and Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM) Chairman Kishore Tiwari said the "anti-farmer, anti-rural and anti-agro policies of the BJP led to its shocking defeat" in the elections.

"The Modi-Shah duo has even upturned some of the good work done by the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments by compelling them to take anti-farm decisions. They seem to be only interested in grandiose Bullet Trains and Metro Rail projects," Tiwari told IANS.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of "dictatorial approach", he said it was time now to consider whether a person like, say, Nitin Gadkari, who believes in "collective instead of confrontational leadership", should head the BJP.

"If the BJP leaders don't take some serious decisions soon, then they could face similar humiliation in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," warned Tiwari, who is accorded a Ministerial status by the state government in his capacity as VNSSM head.