Will waive off Madhya Pradesh farmers' loan in just 10 days: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi consoles the family member of a farmer, killed in the police firing in the 2017 farmers' agitation, in Mandsaur. Pic/PTI

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised farmers' loan waiver in Madhya Pradesh within 10 days, if his party comes to power, and slammed the central and state government over the plight of the agriculturists.

"Kamal Nath (MP Congress president) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (the state poll campaign committee chairman) are sitting here. The day, the Congress comes to power in MP, count 10 days, I say with guarantee that farmers' loan will be waived within 10 days," he asserted.

He was addressing a rally at Pipliya Mandi in Mandsaur district, where six farmers were killed in police firing during an agitation on this day last year. Virtually kicking off his party's campaign for the assembly elections due towards the end of the year, Gandhi said if the Congress comes to power in MP, those responsible for the death of the six farmers would face strict action within 10 days.

"In the entire county, farmers are demanding their rights, yelling and committing suicides, but the BJP government in the states have little space for them," the Congress chief said.

He said the central NDA government has waived Rs 2.5 lakh crore of 15 industrialists but not even one rupee has been waived for the farmers by the union government or the BJP-led state governments. Contrasting this, he said the governments in Punjab and Karnataka, where the Congress is in power, have already waived the farmers' loan. Gandhi recalled that the previous UPA government had waived farmers' loan to the tune of '70,000 crore, "which is a record". He said he had met Modi in his office "only once" when he led a farmers' delegation to seek help for the agriculture community but there was no assurance.