In Modi’s India, farmers live under fear: Rahul Gandhi

VANTHALI (JUNAGADH)/BHUJ: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of instilling fear among the farmers of the country who are not being able to repay their farm loans. He blamed the PM for the poor employment scenario in the country and said by imposing demonetization and Goods and Service Tax (GST) in its present form, the BJP government has destroyed the employment opportunities.


The Congress leader arrived on a two-day visit to the state on Thursday to campaign for his party candidates.

According to party leaders, the grand old party hopes to cover

Lok Sabha

constituencies of Junagadh, Porbandar, Kutch, and Assembly seat of Manavadar by addressing people in Vanthali in Junagadh and Bhuj in Kutch.

Accused Modi of applying different rules to the rich and the poor, Gandhi said, “In Modi’s India the farmers are living under fear (of being penalized) for not being able to pay back their farm loans. But this is not the case for the super rich like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi. They are being favoured despite defaulting on loans worth thousands of crores of rupees,” Gandhi said while addressing people in Bhuj town of Kutch on Thursday evening.

He reiterated that Congress wants to remove fear from the minds of the farmers, for which his party has already planned a farmers’ budget. “Today, industrialists like Anil Ambani and Nirav Modi are spared despite defaulting on big loans, but a poor farmer has to go to jail for defaulting on Rs 20,000 loan. We do not want this disparity. We will change the law and make sure that no farmer goes to jail for failing to pay a loan installment,” he asserted.

The Modi government was ready to waive loans of rich industrialists but not of the farmers, Gandhi lambasted in an earlier public meeting in Vanthali in Junagadh. “When Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 he made some major promises like Rs 15 lakh in every bank account and two crore jobs every year for the country’s youth. All these promises have turned out to be false,” he said.

“Small traders, businessmen, and farmers have suffered a lot due to demonetization and GST. Modi not only failed to generate employment but also destroyed existing employment through demonstration and Gabbar Singh Tax (GST). The employment is at its 45 year low today,” Gandhi said, adding that Modi has been stealing from the poor and common men to share the spoils with his ‘Bhais’, as he fondly calls them, super-rich people like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi. “We will not allow the formation of two Indias. If Ambani gets justice, farmers should also get justice,” Gandhi thundered.

Speaking of his party's ambitious ‘Nyay’ minimum income guarantee scheme, under which the poor families have been promised Rs 72,000 per year, Gandhi said that ‘Nyay’ will not harm the economy, but instead help it grow.

“Modi made a false promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every bank account, but my promise is only for Rs 3.6 lakh (in five years) to poor families,” Gandhi added.