Patna: RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of cheating farmers in the name of providing them minimum support price (MSP) for their yield.

Raghuvansh, a former Union minister, said when the NDA government was formed in 2014, Modi had promised to give farmers MSP but that never happened. He accused Modi of forcing the farmers to commit suicide because they had no option but to sell their production at low prices.

"In the last four years, 12,000 farmers have committed suicide. Condition of farmers is so pathetic that their sons are not getting married because of poor finances. All of the Prime Minister's promises are nothing but jumlas," said Raghuvansh.

The senior RJD leader also claimed that around 8,000 hand pumps are defunct in Bihar. Addressing a news meet at the RJD office in Patna, Raghuvansh said farmers earlier would get subsidy of 90 per cent for borings but that has now been brought down to 50 per cent. This has meant farmers cannot install their own borings and irrigation is hit.

He also attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar over paddy procurement. "As the government did not procure paddy, farmers had to sell their produce at very low prices. The worst affected are potato farmers who have run away after dumping it in cold storage. In states like Uttar Pradesh, farmers threw away their potatoes on the road. The crop insurance and subsidy on diesel are just promises," Raghuvansh said.

He asked the Prime Minister that if bank loans of farmers in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were waived off why weren't Bihar farmers'.

At Kisan Melas, farming machines are so expensive, Raghuvansh said, that farmers get no benefit of subsidy. So, he demanded pension for farmers on the pattern of government employees.