Bhopal: Hours before the Model Code of Conduct came into force on Sunday, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh sent notes to farmers stating that farm loan waivers would be approved only after the Lok Sabha elections come to an end.
Soon after, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched an attack on the Kamal Nath government alleging the Congress dispensation in the state never intended to waive off loans of the farmers.
A BJP leader said, “The state government sent messages to the farmers hours ahead of the imposition of poll code at 5pm on Sunday. How did the administration come to know about the announcement of the election dates in advance?”
Several farmers across the state have uploaded screenshots of the messages sent to them wherein the administration acknowledged receipt of the farm loan waiver applications, but stated the pleas would be approved only after the Lok Sabha polls.
Nath said his government was committed to waiving off loans of all eligible farmers and accused the BJP of peddling lies.
“We have waived off loans of 25 lakh farmers and so the BJP leaders now have to resort to conspiracies,” Nath said and urged farmers not to be misled by the saffron party.
“The BJP which mocked at the idea of farm loan waivers during in its rule has no right to ask questions on the matter.”
In a communique, Nath later said, “We will waive off loans of remaining farmers after the model code of conduct is removed.”
Former chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “The Congress government was in such a hurry to wash its hand off the farm loans that it started sending out messages to
the farmers from around 2pm on Sunday, even as the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha election dates at 5pm the same day.”
Addressing a rally in Ujjain on Monday, BJP state chief Rakesh Singh said, “The Kamal Nath government was only waiting for the election announcement so that it could run away from the loan waivers. Why else would it ask for application forms in different colours when it already has the entire data of farmers?”
Leader of opposition Gopal Bhargav said the government started sending messages on loan-waiver postponement around three hours before the Model Code of Conduct was implemented. “If any farmer is able to produce a loan waiver certificate, I would offer him a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh,” he added.
Reminding Congress president Rahul Gandhi of his promise to remove the chief minister in case loans weren’t waived off in 10 days after coming to power, former cabinet minister Narottam Mishra asked the Gandhi scion how many CMs have been changed in the last 70 days since the government was formed in Madhya Pradesh.
Mishra also accused the state government of fudging loan figures.
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