Patna:

BJP on Tuesday deplored the reported decision of the Bihar government not to respond to the invitation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to send 126 farmers from the state for global Agri summit in Ahmedabad next month.

Describing the meet as “political”, the Bihar government which initially had started the exercise of selecting farmers, has now decided not to go ahead with it, sources said requesting anonymity.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said “Politics should not have come in the way of development.”

“If this trend continues, the day is not far off when he (Kumar) will not permit anybody from Bihar to go to Gujarat,” he said.

Stating that participation in the agri meet could have helped farmers of the state to learn the latest in the farm sector, he said, Gujarat government had created an independent feeder for power supply to the farmers which was worth emulating in Bihar.

Modi said BJP on its own would send innovative farmers from different districts of the state to take part in the summit.

The Gujarat government has invited 126 farmers from different districts of Bihar to attend the three-day farmers meet in Ahmedabad from 9 September. It had promised to bear the travel and other expenses of the farmers.

source:http://www.firstpost.com