After fertiliser, paddy pits Centre against BJP

TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET: MSP on paddy arrived at on an ad hoc basis for the moment is Rs 850.

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Keywords: P Chidambaram, Karnataka

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party-led Karnataka government has been blaming the Congress-led Central government for not providing enough fertiliser to the state after a farmer, protesting fertiliser shortage in the state, was killed in police firing on Tuesday in Haveri.

It took the death of a farmer in police firing for the state government to realise that even fertiliser could be out of the reach of farmers especially in north Kartnataka.

The Centre passed it off as a localised problem and in New Delhi, the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said with the new fertiliser policy, there was enough to go around.

"There's a policy that will help meet fertiliser demand of all parts of the country," Chidambaram said.

But according to the BJP it was a case of too little too less and the policy should have come at the start of the agricultural season.

And it isn't just about fertilisers.

Paddy politics, too, came to the fore with the Finance Minister saying that while the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) had suggested a minimum support price of Rs 1000, all states were not on board.

"Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa wanted the common variety price to be declared at Rs 850. Some wanted it even lower. Chattisgarh wanted it at Rs 745," the Finance Minister said.

By putting the ball in the National Democratic Alliance's court, Chidambaram hoped to earn some reprieve.

But the BJP has said its just data on production that the state government's give and the Centre takes the final view on MSP.

BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, "If whatever BJP ruled states are demanding they will oblige than we demand his resignation and his governments' resignation. Will they oblige?"

The MSP on paddy arrived at on an ad hoc basis for the moment is Rs 850.