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Congress to hold farmers’ rally in Rajasthan soon, says CM Ashok Gehlot
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said the venue and date of farmers’ rally in the state would be decided in consultation with the state party chief (Sachin Pilot), who is out of station.
After the Congress government waived off farm loans, the party will organise a farmers’ rally in Rajasthan soon, chief minister Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday.
“Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said that famers’ loans will be waived off in 10 days after formation of government; the process has started in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” Gehlot told newspersons at state Congress office.
He asked the Centre to waive farm loans across the country. “The UPA government, headed by Manmohan Singh, had done it by waiving ₹72,000 crore loan of those farmers who were helpless and not getting right price for their produce.”
Hitting out at the NDA government, he said, “When ₹3.5 lakh crore loans of industrialists can be waived off, why not of the farmers who work in fields to feed us. Rahul Gandhi had raised the demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi waive the farm loans; till the demand is met, the Congress will continue raising it.”
Gehlot said the venue and date of farmers’ rally would be decided in consultation with the state party chief (Sachin Pilot), who is out of station.
“The party is considering holding the next Congress Working Committee meeting outside Delhi; I have requested Rahul Gandhi to hold it in Rajasthan. His visit is also being planned as the loan waiver promise by him is being executed,” he said.
Attacking the Vasundhara Raje government, he said, “When we left the government in 2013, the state was in debt of ₹1.29 lakh crore, which was an accumulation of 30-35 years. But the BJP government led by Raje increased it to ₹3 lakh crore – a jump of ₹1.75 lakh crore in five years.”
Gehlot said the BJP had blamed the Congress for leaving the state in debt. “Now we want to ask Raje how did she increase the debt by ₹1.75 lakh crore in five years? They talked of loan waiver of ₹8,000 crore but disbursed only ₹2000 crore, and the rest ₹6000 crore will be given by us.”
On holding probe into the BJP government’s decisions, he said law would take its own course. “The previous government worked with vendetta and trapped many people, suspended and jailed many, and foisted fake cases. The Congress never does this. If some one has done something wrong and is caught, then action will be taken.”
Targeting Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, he said there are only two persons ruling the country. “It is not the BJP that is ruling, but two persons, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, are ruling the country. The BJP and the RSS people, too, have understood this. The atmosphere is of hatred, distrust, insensitivity and violence; innocents are being lynched, farmers are committing suicide and youth aren’t getting jobs.”
He said the NDA’S promises about ₹15 lakh in bank accounts, black money, doubling farmers’ income, and two crore annual jobs were mere catch phrases. “Demonetisation and GST ruined the country.”
Over Mayawati’s statement on reconsidering support to the Congress if cases against innocents framed during Bharat Bandh on April 2 were not withdrawn, Gehlot said, “Her demand is obvious. Many times innocents get stuck and she is right on her part. The government will examine the issue.”
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said people have given mandate to the Gehlot government. “Instead of making election speeches or levelling charges against PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, he should come up to expectation of people who are looking at their performance,” he said. “They are talking of debts on the state, but cannot see development and improved situation of electricity and water.”
