Kharge: PM guarantee not for farmers, labourers, Dalits, backward people

Amethi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, saying his guarantee is not for the farmers, labourers, Dalits, tribal and backward people of the country.

He said the Congress has promised to the country's farmers that it will bring a law that will guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Addressing a function held here during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Kharge said Modi's guarantee is not for farmers, labourers, Dalits, tribal and backward people, but for two-three rich people who are his "friends".

"Loans of Rs 13 lakh crore of Modiji's friends have been waived while farmers are forced to commit suicide for a loan of Rs 12,000 or Rs 13,000," he said, adding that the rates of the taxes levied on the rich have been reduced, whereas those levied on the poor have been hiked.

The Congress president also alleged that big companies are being given subsidies worth crores of rupees, while the subsidies given to the poor, farmers and women have been removed.

He claimed that for the first time, different types of taxes have been clamped on farmers.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been imposed on tractors, fertilisers and machinery, he added.

Kharge said farm loans have been waived in a number of states ruled by the Congress.

During the 10-year rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the MSP on paddy increased by 135 per cent, whereas under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, it went up by only 50 per cent, he said.

"We talk of justice for farmers and hence, the Congress has promised to all farmers the MSP guarantee law," Kharge said.

"Projects worth thousands of crores were given here during Congress rule but the Modi government stopped those as soon as it came to power. This government is taking out its enmity on the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli. There was a project for a mega food park here, which would have benefitted lakhs of farmers, but the prime minister stopped it,'' he added. (PTI)