CM’s letter to PM is bundle of lies: Choudhary

 

 

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inadvertently shed light on the substantial contribution of the Central Government to paddy procurement, despite the Chief Minister’s attempts to portray the Centre negatively. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State General Secretary O P Choudhary said while addressing the press on Monday. Choudhary noted that the letter indirectly confirmed what BJP leaders had been asserting for some time – the BJP-led Central Government’s significant financial involvement in rice procurement. The Chief Minister’s claims of minimal Central Government’s participation have been debunked by the contents of the letter. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) website clarifies the central role of FCI and State Agencies in wheat and paddy procurement, emphasising the objective of ensuring profitable prices for farmers.

 

Choudhary stressed that FCI shoulders the procurement expenses, suggesting that if the Chief Minister disagrees, legal recourse is available. Comparative data from the years 2017-18 to 2022-23 reveal a dramatic increase in rice procurement. In 2017-18, the central pool rice procurement target was 24 lakh metric tons (LMT), derived from 36 LMT of paddy. In 2021-22, the central pool quota surged to 61 LMT, equivalent to 92 LMT of paddy, with actual procurement reaching 95 LMT. Similarly, in 2022-23, with a central pool target of 61 LMT (from 92 LMT of paddy), Chhattisgarh procured 1.07 crore metric tons (CMT) of paddy, accounting for 86% of total procurement. A state assembly session compelled Minister Amarjeet Bhagat to acknowledge that the Central Government contributed Rs 51,000 crore, in contrast to the state’s Rs 13,000 crore, for paddy procurement over four years. The recently increased rice procurement quota from 61 LMT to 86.5 LMT (equivalent to 1.60 CMT of paddy) for 2023-24 reinforces the Central Government’s pivotal role. This escalation supports Chief Minister Baghel’s announcement of a substantial increase in paddy procurement. Choudhary criticised the Congress Government’s apparent desire to claim undeserved credit and challenged the Chief Minister to refute the presented facts. In a symbolic gesture, the BJP has offered Ganga Jal (holy water from the Ganges) to Chief Minister Baghel, daring him to deny the veracity of these revelations.