Rahul raises pitch for farm loan waiver
Hitting out at the BJP government in the state, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday his party will make all efforts to ensure loan waiver for farmers and won’t let the chief minister sleep till the demand is met.
Rahul was addressing the Kissan Akrosh rally in Banswara district of Rajasthan.
“The demand for loan waiver is growing across the country. The Congress has waived off debts in Punjab and Karnataka. In UP, too, the BJP government waived off loans only after the Congress put pressure on them,” he said, adding the party had submitted a petition to the ruling party in UP seeking the waiver.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul said the PM did not live up to his promises of providing financial relief to farmers and employment opportunities to youth. “Modi talks about Make in India, but when we raised the question of employment in Parliament, the government said that less than one lakh jobs were created last year. How is the country supposed to progress if youths don’t get jobs and tribals, Dalits their rights?” he asked. Cornering the government over GST, Rahul said: “For GST, the government could make arrangements that ran till midnight, but this morning when we sought a discussion over farmers’ issues in the Parliament, we were not allowed...”
Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot alleged that farmers are suffering under BJP rule both at the Centre and the state. “Incidents of farmer suicide are on constant rise in Rajasthan. This rally will send out a message that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the farmers of India will throw BJP out of power.”