Leading his support to the cane growers’ agitation for a higher price of sugarcane, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asked Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to step down if he was unable to ensure a proper price for the farmers.

“I can understand the pressure that Pawar must be facing from Congress since his party strength in the Parliament has gone down,” Yadav told mediapersons.

“He is being made to take anti-farmer stand. He must kick the chair and lead the farmers’ agitation,” added Yadav.

The SP chief announced that his party would start a statewide agitation on November 16 to protest against the “abysmally low-price of sugarcane and other agriculture produce”, being offered to farmers by the state and the Central government.

“If the UPA and the state government fails to respond to our agitation, then we will declare an all out war against both the governments. The SP can no longer be a mute spectator to the plight of the farmers,” said Yadav.

“The cane crop is being burnt in the fields and farmers are attempting suicide and self-immolation,” he said.

The BSP-led state government and the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre are hand in glove in looting the farmers because they want some foreign companies to benefit. The minimum cane prices should be fixed at Rs 300 per quintal, he added.

According to Yadav, while cane farmers were already out on the streets, the plight of potato growers was no better.

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