The Union government is taking revenge on the State by stifling rubber cultivation here and promoting it elsewhere, Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K. Mani has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a rubber farmers’ dharna organised by the KC(M) in protest against the fall in rubber prices and the alleged neglect of the farmers by the Union government in front of Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday.
Mr. Mani said the Union government was troubling States where it could not come to power in many ways. It was trying to squeeze the State financially so that development projects could go awry. If rubber cultivation in the State were to be wiped out, it would have a significant impact on the State’s finances.