Bajwa asks Badal to sit on dharna to get loan waiver for farmers

Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday called upon chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to get the Rs 51,000 crore loan waiver for farmers from "his own" Narendra Modi government or sit on a dharna, followed by an indefinite fast, in case the issue was not resolved.

Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday called upon chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to get the Rs 51,000 crore loan waiver for farmers from "his own" Narendra Modi government or sit on a dharna, followed by an indefinite fast, in case the issue was not resolved.

In a statement here, Bajwa reminded Badal that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced Rs 70,000 crore package for farmers. It was high time the Modi government too came out to the rescue of the harried farmers in this food bowl of the country by announcing the loan waiver, Bajwa said.

He said he was ready to follow Badal in case he went on an indefinite fast in Delhi to get relief for the farmers of the state, "as he (Badal) had been selling dreams of liberal financial assistance in case the BJP formed the government at the Centre". However, what happened during the last 15 months was to the contrary, he added.

He announced that about 25,000 farmers would participate in the farmers' rally in Delhi on September 20 that would be addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi besides by other leaders.