All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday said if the Congress is voted to power in Chhattisgarh, it will write off farmers’ debts within 10 days. Addressing a poll rally in Chief Minister Raman Singh’s home turf Rajnandgaon, Rahul attacked the BJP-led Government at the Centre over the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which he alleged, was rather a ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’.
The 47-year-old Congress chief told the gathering he did not want to make “false” promises like the ruling BJP had allegedly made. Rahul said his party had promised loan waiver for farmers during polls in Punjab and Karnataka and kept its word after coming to power in the two States.
“If elected to power, the Congress will write off debt of each farmer in Chhattisgarh in 10 days,” Gandhi told the gathering.
If elected, he also promised to give bonus to the farmers of the poll-bound State, where the Congress has been in opposition for the last 15 years. Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will be held in two phases — on November 12 and November 20 — and counting of votes will take place on December 11.
While addressing a rally at Pakhanjore town, he said the common man was forced to stand in queues after demonetisation, while loan defaulters were allowed to flee abroad. “All of you were standing in long queues during demonetisation; but not one black money holder was seen among you. Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi ran away from the country with your money,” Rahul said.
Later addressing a rally at Khairagarh he took on the Central Government over the Rafale deal and demonetisation. Rahul said 126 Rafale aircraft were to be purchased as per the UPA deal when the cost of each aircraft was Rs 526 crore. “Bastar is rich in natural resources, but local people don’t have access to its benefits,” he said. During the UPA Government at the Centre, it used to spend Rs 35,000 crore to run the MNREGA scheme in a year which changed the lives of several people in the country, Rahul said. “Chit fund companies committed scam to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore in Chhattisgarh. People lost their hard-earned money. Sixty people lost their lives in this connection, but no action was taken so far by the Government,” Rahul said.