New Delhi: Addressing the country’s distressed farmers directly from outside Parliament, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until all farm loans are waived.
In a stinging attack on what he described as crony capitalism, Gandhi said the government has turned a blind eye to the loans given to 15 top industrialists of the country, including Reliance’s Anil Ambani, but made no effort to alleviate the woes of the farmers in the last four years. “We promised to waive loans in 10 days. In two states, we did it within six hours and we would do it in the third state very soon,” he told reporters outside Parliament.
He was referring to the Congress’ newly-formed governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh fulfilling promises made ahead of the assembly polls and waiving loans on Monday. A Congress government, led by Ashok Gehlot, was also sworn-in in Rajasthan.
Gandhi said the recent win of the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is the victory of the poor, the farmers, the youth, labour and small shopkeepers. “Modi ji has been prime minister for 4.5 years, but has not waived a single rupee of farmers’ loans. I want to tell you that the Congress party and other opposition parties will unite till all farm loans are waived. We will stand up and fight against them, we will not retract a single inch, we will not let him (PM) sleep at night, till the time Indian farmers’ loans are waived. “I want to give this message and tell the farmers that this country is yours and not of 15-20 industrialists. That injustice being done to you, despite the hard work and toil that help provide food to the country. Your voice does not reach and we will help do it. We have done it in three states and you remember that we will exert pressure on Narendra Modi to waive farm loans,” he said.
He also claimed that the loans of friends of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had been waived. (PTI)
