New Delhi: In a message posted on social media platform X, the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi criticized the Narendra Modi government for its reluctance to spend on farmers despite allegedly writing off loans totaling Rs 14 lakh crore taken by the rich and providing Rs 1.8 lakh crore annual tax relief to corporates. Gandhi accused the Modi-friendly media and propaganda machinery of spreading lies about MSP (minimum support price) following the Congress's promise of a legal guarantee for MSP. He debunked the claim that providing a legal guarantee for MSP is not feasible due to budgetary constraints, citing an estimate by CRISIL, a global analytics company, which stated that providing MSP in 2022-23 would have required an additional Rs 21,000 crore, merely 0.4 percent of the budget.

Gandhi questioned why a small expense on farmers had become such a contentious issue in a country where Rs 14 lakh crore bank loans were written off and Rs 1.8 lakh crore tax relief was provided to corporates. He argued that robust agricultural growth would stimulate the economy, countering the assessment by pro-establishment experts who estimated the cost burden on the national exchequer at Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 15 lakh crore if MSP were offered on all crops. Gandhi emphasized the importance of an MSP guarantee in encouraging investment in agriculture, boosting rural demand, and diversifying crops, asserting that it would become a guarantee for national prosperity.

He criticized those spreading misconceptions about MSP, stating that they were insulting the dreams of M.S. Swaminathan. Gandhi concluded by highlighting that with an MSP guarantee, India's farmers would become the catalyst for GDP growth, rather than a burden on the budget.