Bengaluru: Taking swipe at his political opponents, Chief Minister Siddarmaiah on Friday dared state Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to appeal to their national leaders to waive off farmers loans given by nationalised banks in the state.
Speaking after being felicitated by KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar here, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “I do not shy from taking bold steps like waiver of farmer loans. I took the decision on my own after going through the rich history of the Congress party which has always shown great concern for the poor and farmers, and not due to pressure from the Opposition parties. If any opposition leader claims that it was due their pressure, then I must tell them that they are wrong.”
Training his guns on Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Mr Siddaramaiah questioned angrily what made B.S. Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) claim that he took the decision due to his insistence. “Union minister Venkaiah Naidu says it has become a fashion to waive off farmer loans, while finance minister Arun Jaitley says that the union government will not waive the loans. Mr Yeddyurappa should ask his party leaders to be more sensitive to the poor farmers' plight,” he quipped.
Dr G: Cong always supports farmers
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dr G. Parameshwar on Friday asserted that the Congress would always remains committed to the farmers’ cause.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Parameshwar said, “The Congress party has always shown its commitment to protect farmers’ interests by waiving off farmer loans. Even when the Congress backed United Progressive Alliance was in power, then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh had taken a decision to waive off farmer loans and now we have again proved it.
“If farmer associations are seeking relief from the Union government, why should we oppose them? Be it Mahadayi or any other agitation, we will always be with our people and our state.”
HDK: Waive loans from nationalised banks
JD(S) chief H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday declared that he would hang himself in public if the SIT proved charges of bribery against him in the Janthakal mining case.
Giving credit to Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for the state’s decision to waive off short term farmers’ loans in co-op sector, he urged the government to waive farm loans given by nationalised banks as well. Recalling that Mr Gandhi had sought waiver of farm loans, he said he was happy that the CM had taken cue from him.
