BJP mocks Rahul Gandhi’s promise to farmers

Taking on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his “baseless and ridiculous” charges against the the Modi government, the BJP on Tuesday said the Congress leader’s promise to farmers was merely his “seasonal expression of sympathy in the season of elections”.

The BJP said the plight of farmers in the country was in itself an indictment of the nearly six decades of Congress-led governments.

As part of the Congress’ election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gandhi embarked on the “Deoria to Dilli yatra” where he met farmers, promised loan waivers and a 50 per cent reduction in power tariffs if the Congress is voted to power in the 2017 Assembly polls.

Claiming that BJP ruled states had seen maximum agricultural growth, while those ruled by the Congress are known for cases of “land-grab”, the BJP dismissed

Mr Gandhi’s pitch for loan-waivers for farmers, citing a CAG report to allege that a Rs 51,000-crore scam occurred when the UPA-I government introduced such a scheme.

“The Congress vice-president, the 46-year-old eternal youth of Indian politics, has said a few things about farmers... Rahul Gandhi, who goes abroad to attain knowledge and concentration, was in eastern UP today for a seasonal expression of sympathy in the season of elections,” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said. He also referred to land deals involving Robert Vadra.

Taking a dig at the “khaat pe charcha,” the BJP asked whether Mr Gandhi “had slept on a prickly cot”.