Haryana Congress President Kumari Selja on Monday said the loan waiver would be implemented within days of the party assuming power in the State as has been done in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In a statement, she said Congress would not announce its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections and the same would be decided by the party high command after the polls.
“CM Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government is trying to manufacture issues and not address the real ones concerning the State and its people. They need to give their report card. They have dropped sitting ministers and MLAs. That is an acknowledgement of their Government’s failures,” Selja said.
She said that the loan waiver promise would be part of the manifesto for the October 21 Haryana assembly polls and the document would be unveiled soon.
The Haryana Congress manifesto committee had submitted its report and final touches were being given to it, she said. “When our Government comes to power, we will waive loans of the poor, especially people who take small loans.
We are also going to write off the loans of farmers who are being pushed to a corner and are suffering under the BJP Government,” she said, adding Congress believed in fulfilling its poll promises “unlike the BJP”, which only used these to “mislead” the voters. “The abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir is another tool the BJP is using to befool people,” she said.
The Congress leader said the BJP led-government in the State had given the Congress plenty to go to the people about. The BJP’s decision to drop sitting ministers and MLAs mirrored the state government’s poor performance and inefficiency.
She asked Khattar, “Kindly tell us how many people have been given employment? Kindly tell us how many paper leaks have happened and why the youth are being taken in by the drug mafia which is moving towards Haryana after Punjab took stern steps to curb the menace.” Selja dismissed charges of factionalism in the state unit, saying divisions are now passé and everyone was moving together to ensure a Congress win in Haryana. She said there was no fight between the old guard and the new leaders in the party and the Congress had always worked with cohesion.
“We have always had a pleasant mix of experience and new ideas. That will always be the case,” Selja added. On former Congress chief Ashok Tanwar’s resignation and his allegations on the Congress Party being the anti-thesis of democracy, Selja said, “The Congress has seen such rebellions in the past and has always come out stronger due to its inherent strengths. The Congress has the resilience to take these things.”
She said that the party had appealed to everyone to work together in the interest of the organisation. “Ashok Tanwar was named a star campaigner for Haryana.
Now, he has chosen to resign. That is his decision. But we must all remember one thing. Organisations are bigger than people. The Congress leadership has always overcome such temporary challenges,” she added.