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.
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Talking to reporters later, Gandhi said farmers were committing suicide as they continue to face the problems of water, fertiliser, power, loan and MSP. If Modiji wants to waive loans of the rich, it is his decision.
He said the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh government have forgotten the farmers and he is undertaking this yatra in order to put pressure on the Centre to solve the farming crisis in India. You should not run a “suit-boot sarkar”. “The main aim of this yatra is to pressurise Modi and his government to heed to the demands of farmers and the poor”, he added. “We don’t have a government in Delhi or in UP, but we will listen to the farmers”, he said. There is no burden on big industrialists, but the farmer is carrying the burden of the entire country on his shoulders. “Congress has always done a lot for farmers”, said Saraswati, a member of the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Parijoyana.
Rahul Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring farmers due to his bias towards the rich as he began a 2,500-km “Kisan Yatra” in election-bound Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress leader assured that he would take their fight forward as he had earlier done on issues of land acquisition, cane farmers and bringing in legislation which helped the farmers to get better prices for their land.
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Senior Congress leaders expressed displeasure with the organisers though they sought to make light of the incident. He is the one who spends his holiday in Europe and here by getting dressed like a farmer and by acting like them he can not become like them. Banished from Uttar Pradesh governance for 27 long years, the Congress has been praying for an opportunity and a window that could start the process of its recovery and being relevant in State Assembly elections in 2017.
