News Politics National Don't commit suicide, Chavan's appeal to distraught farmers

Don't commit suicide, Chavan's appeal to distraught farmers

Mumbai: Alarmed by the renewed spate of farmers' suicides - at least 32 since Sunday - Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday appealed to them not to end their lives. The chief minister said in

Chavan's statement assumes significance in the wake of the recent threats by the farming community of Vidarbha to exercise the NOTA (None Of The Above) option during the elections if aid is not given before April 10.

In a related development, angry Vidarbha farmers plan to demand 10 percent representation in parliament and legislatures from BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who will launch his 2014 election campaign from Wardha Thursday.

"There is so much depression that some have gone to the main village square and hanged themselves publicly... VJAS and other NGOs console and counsel them, but they feel there is nobody in the government or politicians to take up their cause," Kishore Tiwari, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti chief, told IANS.