If voted to power, INDIA alliance to be voice of farmers: Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra

Rahul Gandhi. Pic/PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the opposition INDIA alliance, if voted to power, will be the "voice of farmers" and frame policies to protect them, reported news agency PTI.

Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra: 'INDIA alliance government will be the voice of farmers'

He was addressing a farmers' rally at Chandwad in Maharashtra's Nashik district along with NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, as part of the Congress' ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'.

"The INDIA alliance government will be the voice of farmers and work to protect their interests," Rahul Gandhi said, reported PTI.

He promised loan waiver for farmers, restructuring of crop insurance scheme to benefit cultivators, to protect crop prices in formulation of export import policies and to make efforts to exclude agriculture from GST and work on only one tax.

The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad also reiterated the Congress' promise of a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) as per the Swaminathan committee report.

Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra: 'Narendra Modi government waived off Rs 16 lakh crore debt of industrialists'

The former Congress president claimed 20 to 25 people in the country have wealth equivalent to 70 crore of the country's population, reported PTI.

The Narendra Modi government waived off Rs 16 lakh crore debt of industrialists, he further claimed.

"This amount is equivalent to 24 years of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) under which Rs 35,000 crore is spent every year to give employment to the poor people," Gandhi said, reported PTI.

Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra: 'Previous Congress-led UPA government had waived off Rs 70,000 crore debt of farmers'

He said the previous Congress-led UPA government had waived off Rs 70,000 crore debt of farmers.

"If the loans of rich people can be written off, farmers also should get the benefit," he said.

Criticising the Agnipath scheme (under which soldiers are enrolled as Agniveers by the armed forces), Gandhi said the Agniveers are excluded from pension and martyrdom status and are given training for only six months, reported PTI.

"Like soldiers who protect our country's borders, farmers protect citizens within the country. If we don't safeguard our jawans and kisans, the country cannot progress," he said, reported PTI.

NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar accused the central government of being apathetic to the plight of farmers and the agriculture sector, reported PTI.

"Due to lack of a proper price for their produce, farmers are debt-ridden and committing suicide. The UPA government had waived off Rs 70,000 crore loan of farmers," he said.

"It is our collective responsibility to defeat the anti-farmer, anti-youth government which invites inflation," the former Union minister said, reported PTI.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is with Rahul Gandhi in the struggle to fight for people's causes.

The MVA comprises the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). It is part of the national-level opposition INDIA bloc.

(With inputs from PTI)