Rahul Gandhi: Will wake PM from slumber on farmer issues

New Delhi: Continuing his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated his promise that his party would not let Mr Modi rest until his governments — at the Centre and in the states — take care of issues facing the country’s farmers. Mr Gandhi said in a tweet that his Congress Party had “managed to wake” the chief ministers of Assam and Gujarat (both BJP-ruled states) “from their deep slumber”. He added: “PM is still asleep. We will wake him up too.”

Mr Gandhi’s tweet was a reference to the recent populist measures announced by the BJP governments in Assam and Gujarat. After coming to power in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress governments announced loan waivers for farmers up to `2 lakhs. On Tuesday, the BJP government in Assam announced approval of `600 crores in farm loan waivers, which it said would benefit around eight lakh farmers in the state. The same day, the party’s government in Gujarat announced a complete waiver of `625 crores in unpaid electricity bills, under its one-time settlement scheme for over six lakh people living in rural areas.

All Congress governments have been promising farm loan waivers within 10 days of coming to power. Punjab had offered one, followed by Karnataka, which is yet to ensure that the real benefits of the waivers reach farmers. The Congress president had said on Tuesday that he and the Congress would force the PM to waive off farm loans, and if they are not waived off by this government, they will be waived y the “government that comes to power in 2019”. There are reports that the Modi government and the BJP are considering major relief for farmers, but the contours of such relief aren’t known yet. Mr Gandhi has been alleging that the Centre and the BJP state governments are not doing enough for farmers.