Telangana BJP chief asks Congress govt to fulfil promise of waiving farmers' loans

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], August 21 : Union Minister and Telangana BJP President G. Kishan Reddy on Wednesday slammed the Congress government in the state for not fulfilling the pre-poll promise of farmers' loan waiver.
"Today farmers are protesting across Telangana. I demand from the Congress government that whatever promises they made to Telangana farmers, none of the promises were fulfilled after coming to power," Reddy told ANI.
"I demand on behalf of Telangana farmers that farmers' loans should be waived. Farmers are not going to sit peacefully until the loan waiver happens," he added.
The Congress had promised a complete loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers as part of its 'Warangal Rythu Declaration', ahead of the Assembly elections. The party had said that if they came to power, it would waive off farmers' loans of Rs 2 lakh per acre.
However, after coming to power, the government split the waiver scheme into three installments, which irked the farmers in dismay.
Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working President KTR announced that the party will hold protests in all Mandal and Constituency centres on August 22, demanding an unconditional loan waiver for all farmers in the state.
In a press release by KTR, he said that while the Chief Minister claims that loans up to two lakh rupees have been waived for everyone but the ministers are giving contradictory statements, saying the loan waiver process is not yet complete. "Large number of farmers across the state are agitating because they have not benefited from the Congress party's loan waiver scheme", added KTR.
Mentioning the promises of the Congress party before the elections, KTR highlighted Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's statement that Rs40,000 crores would be required for the loan waiver. However, it was noted that only Rs18,000 crores have been spent by the state government till now. He also reminded that before the elections, the Congress party clearly promised to implement a loan waiver of up to two lakh rupees for all farmers.
KTR criticised the state Congress leadership, saying that instead of supporting the distressed farmers who are protesting the lack of a proper loan waiver, ministers and Congress leaders are making statements that only add to the confusion.
He claimed that there is ground-level information that not even 40% of farmers have benefited from the loan waiver. "Due to the Congress government's stance, lakhs of farmers are being forced to visit government offices repeatedly", mentioned the BRS leader. Additionally, it was demanded that the state government immediately announce a loan waiver of up to two lakh rupees for every farmer.