New Delhi: Farmers from Tamil Nadu draped saris on Friday as a mark of their protest during their ongoing agitation in Jantar Mantar seeking a drought relief fund.
The farmers, who have been protesting since March 15, had earlier stripped outside Rashtrapati Bhavan after they were not allowed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They had also displayed the skulls of farmers who died due to severe drought in the state.
They are demanding loan waivers, revised drought relief packages and the constitution of a Cauvery management board for a solution to the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the river.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, during his visit to Jantar Mantar, accused PM Modi of “disrespecting” the drought-hit farmers not initiating talks with them over their demands for the relief package.
Gandhi also criticised the Modi-led government of being “anti-poor and anti-farmer” which, he alleged, only panders to the demands of a select group of industrialists.