On the second day of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at the “anti-farmer” BJP-led central government, saying that it was ready to “waive loans of Adani and Ambani” but not the farmers. Addressing farmers in Purnia at Sisabari village in Sikandarpur panchayat, Rahul said that if an INDIA bloc government came into power, it would waive farmers’ loans. “I am not making false promises. When we were in the government, we waived Rs 72,000 crore in farmer loans. We also implemented the Land Acquisition Bill but the BJP stopped that bill after coming to power. They are, basically, an anti-farmer government,” Rahul said. “Farmers are the backbone of the country but the BJP government is arranging to give farm lands to Adani and Ambani at cheaper rates. They are pressuring farmers to buy fertilisers and seeds at higher prices. They also planned to bring black law for farmers but you stood firm against that law and the government was forced to withdraw it,” Rahul said. “They are ready to waive loans of Adani, Ambani and Mallya but not farmers. If you can waive loans of corporates then why not farmers? I can assure you that if we form the government, we will waive farm loans. I will raise these points in Parliament as well,” he added. Rahul resumed the second day of the yatra in Bihar from Araria on Tuesday morning. He reached Sikandarpur panchayat to participate in a ‘chaupal’ at around 11 am after visiting a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya where he interacted with students. Before Rahul Gandhi, who came to the ‘chaupal’ wearing a gamchha (towel) on his head, started his speech, local farmers started speaking to him. “Hum log garib kisan hai (We are poor villagers). We came here to tell you that every year, our house is flooded. We have to stay elsewhere. What small amount we earn, we have to spend that money to build our house again and again. Nobody is ready to hear our demands. So, we came here to tell you about our situation. Please do something,” Fuchki Devi, a farmer who is around 60 years old, said. “We are farmers but we do not have any facilities. Everywhere we go, no work is done without a bribe. How can we survive?” farmer Chunnilal Oraon said. Another farmer spoke about how he had given his land to the SSB 10 years ago when the price of the land was Rs 2 lakh per bigha. “Now that land’s price is Rs 60 lakh per bigha. That land was not used by SSB. So we want Rahul Gandhi to raise our demand so that we can be given back our land for agriculture because those lands are very fertile,” the farmer said. Rahul, who ate food cooked in a local farmer’s house, heard their demands and said, “Our UPA government first time brought Land Acquisition Bill where it was mentioned that farmers should be given four times the price of the land during acquisition. But the BJP government postponed that law.” Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and state Congress president Akhilesh Singh accompanied Rahul Gandhi in the ‘chaupal’.
