Raipur, Jan 2 (IANS): The Congress in Chhattisgarh Monday said it would step up campaign against the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for "unabated suicide deaths of thousands of farmers".

"More than 18,000 farmers have committed suicide since December 2003 when the BJP came to power," the Congress said in a statement. The party largely held Chief Minister Raman Singh responsible for the suicides.

The Congress held a massive rally Jan 1 after a farmer, Satish Yadav, committed suicide in Kharasia of Raigarh district. The party said it would intensify the protest across the state under the leadership of state unit president Nandkumar Patel to vote out the "anti-farmer government".

The party claimed that many farmers of Mahasamund district were put in jail by the government for not paying power tariff though the government had made clear in its 2008 assembly poll manifesto that electricity would be provided free of cost to farmers.