Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election: Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi waived loans of Rs. 3.5 lakh crore."
The Congress party has a message for the farmers in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. The party is winning in the BJP-ruled state, and within 10 days of coming to power, the new government will waive loans of each and every farmer, announced Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Vidisha today.
Rahul Gandhi launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the prime minister waived loans of Rs 3.5 lakh crore, but did nothing for the farmers. He accused the prime minister of sparing his rich friends and letting the poor and honest suffer.
"Vijay Mallya took away with Rs 10,000 crore, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi ran away with thousands of crores. You can waive their loans but can't do the same for the poor farmers of the country? You promied to provide best cost for their produce... you promised to change their lives. When I asked him why haven't you done anything, his (PM Modi) response was silence. Not one word, no assurance, he didn't even say there was no money," he said during a rally in Vidisha's Basoda.
Mr Gandhi then counted 10 on his fingers and said the Congress will respond on Modiji's behalf by waiving loans of farmers within 10 days of forming the government.
Madhya Pradesh votes for a new assembly on November 28 and votes will be counted on December 11.
The Congress, which is seeking to unseat the BJP -- in power in the state for three consecutive terms -- hopes to tap into what they claim is high anti-incumbency brought on by multiple factors. The people, the party says, are disenchanted over the government's failure to generate jobs, benefit farmers and improve law and order.
"The farmers are not unhappy," Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emphasised. "We have tried to find better solutions for their problems," he told NDTV.
The Congress chief had made a similar promise while campaigning in Chhattisgarh last week.
"As soon as the Congress forms the government here, Modiji, you count 10 days. The Congress will waive the loans of farmers in Chhattisgarh within 10 days," Mr Gandhi said.
During his half-an-hour speech, Mr Gandhi reiterated his charge that the prime minister put Rs 30,000 crore in his friend and industrialist Anil Ambani's pocket through the Rafale fighter jet deal. Mr Ambani, he said, has no experience of making fighter jets. He added that Anil Ambani has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore, which he is yet to repay to various banks.
How could the prime minister ignore the state-owned aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Mr Gandhi asked and pointed out that the aircraft used during the Kargil war or the NDA government's "surgical strike" were manufactured by the HAL.
"Even BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie have said due process wasn't followed in the Rafale deal. The CBI director (Alok Verma) was about to initiate a probe into the deal, but he was removed from his post at 2 am!" the Congress chief said.
If there is an investigation, Rahul Gandhi warned, only two names will figure in the deal.
"The prime minister knows that the day a probe is launched into the Rafale deal, only Modi ji and Anil Ambani will be named... no Manohar Parrikar, Sushma Swaraj ji, Nitin Gadkari or anyone from the Air Force," he said.