Modi going back on what he promised on MSP: Congress

New Delhi, NT Bureau: The central government has 'betrayed' farmers by not implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, the Congress alleged on Wednesday and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the country for it.

In its 2006 report, National Commission on Farmers' chairman M S Swaminathan suggested that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) fix MSP at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production (C2 plus 50 per cent).

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party takes decisions for the country and not for politics as he questioned criticism over the promise to give legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for various crops if the INDIA blocks comes to power.

By not implementing the Swaminathan Commission, the PM is "opposing" what he had recommended when he was the Gujarat CM, the opposition party said.

"Be it the BJP's manifesto of 2014 or the recommendation of CM Modi's committee, the Modi government betrayed the farmers on legal MSP," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged amid a stir by a section of farmers.

"Prime Minister Modi should apologise to the country - for speaking a lie to farmers, for going back after filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court, for not answering the question of MSP through RTI and for calling farmers terrorists and foreign agents," he said at a press conference.

He countered the claim that the 'Swaminathan Commission' report was not implemented by the Congress, saying there were 201 recommendations of which the UPA government had implemented 175.