Rajasthan Cong seeks crop loan waiver ahead of PM visit

Yash Goyal 

Jaipur, August 22

In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Udaipur on August 29, the Congress on Monday demanded a crop loan waiver package for drought and flood-affected farmers of Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister will roll out 9,500 road projects during his visit to Udaipur's Khel Gaon in Rajasthan on August 29, a party spokesman said.

CM Vasundhara Raje and her cabinet ministers, state BJP president Ashok Parnami are shuttling between Jaipur and Udaipur to review the preparations.

BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have announced crop loan waiver schemes for farmers, but unfortunately Rajasthan led by Vasundhara Raje was neglected and not considered for the farmers' interests and rights, Sachin Pilot, PCC president, told a press conference here.

Other BJP-ruled states have made a relief of Rs 37,000 crore to farmers under crop loan waiver scheme, whereas Rajasthan's farmers were fighting for their survival, Pilot said, adding so far 15 farmers have committed suicide in 2017 as against 60 of last year. 

"If the Prime Minister does not announce such crop loan waiver on August 29, the Congress would launch a statewide agitation, rallies and protests on farmers' demand from September one and would not let the Raje government to sit idle and speechless on this issue,” Pilot said. 

"Rs 10 crore are being spent by the state government on the PM's visit on the one hand, and on the other hand the farmers are deprived and neglected,” Pilot underlined. 

Reminding that BJP president Amit Shah in his recent visits had declared the names of chief ministerial candidates in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, but not in Rajasthan, Pilot said the public wanted to know who will be the BJP's CM face in 2018 assembly polls. 

It appeared that the BJP president on his visit to Rajasthan late last month had paid lip-service to hail the Raje government but was scared to announce CM candidate whether Raje would be repeated or there would be someone else in her place, Pilot said.