Modi govt never waived farm loans, Priyanka Gandhi claims in Haryana

Panipat: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed on Thursday that the BJP-led Central government never waived the loans of the farmers who were forced to commit suicide due to debt, whereas loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of 22 billionaires were waived by the same dispensation.

“The Modi government imposed GST (Goods and Services Tax) on farmers and refused to give MSP (Minimum Support Price) to them,” she said at a public meeting in Panipat, Haryana.

Accompanying senior party leaders, including two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, Haryana Congress President Chaudhary Udaibhan, and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, Priyanka said the farmers and farm labourers feed the country by toiling the fields, but the BJP repeatedly uses ‘lathis’, tear gas and bullets on them.

“The farmers waited on the borders of Delhi for more than a year. The entire country was with the farmers, and even Congress MP Deepender Hooda sat with the farmers during the movement. But instead of showing sympathy towards our ‘annadatas’ (farmers), the BJP insulted them by calling them traitors.”

She also said that a UP minister's son crushed four farmers to death, but to date, the government has not given justice to the victims.

“When we went to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the victims' families, we were stopped on the way and arrested. This reveals the anti-farmer, anti-worker and anti-poor mentality of the BJP,” she stated.

“Today, unemployment in the country has broken the record of 45 years. If the Congress comes to power, we will provide permanent jobs in 30 lakh posts at the Centre. The Agnipath scheme will be discontinued. Farmers will be given the benefits of MSP and loan waiver. Also, women will be given financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh annually,” she promised.

Addressing the rally, Bhupinder Hooda claimed the Congress will win both the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Karnal.

“The enthusiasm of the people makes it certain that the BJP will be wiped out from Haryana, and an INDIA bloc coalition government will be formed at the Centre,” he said.

Polling in all 10 Lok Sabha seats along with the Assembly bypoll in Haryana will be held on May 25.