With the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Centre-State shared scheme for complete farm loan waiver, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday it had made apparent the Congress government did not have any intention of implementing a complete Rs 90,000 Crore farm loan waiver promised to farmers of Punjab by the ruling party.
Reacting to a letter written by the CM to the PM on this issue, Badal said “It is clear the Punjab Congress wants to do a double whammy on farmers of Punjab. Farmers were tricked into believing the Congress government would waive off their loans on the eve of the 2017 Assembly elections by then Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh. Now after deceiving and betraying the trust of farmers, Channi is again trying to trick farmers into believing that their loans will be waived off in conjunction with the Central government”.
He said Channi’s letter is not worth the paper it is printed upon as the complete farm loan waiver was promised by Congress and not the Central government.
“The farm loan waiver formed a part of the election manifesto of the Congress in Punjab and it is its government which is honour bound to fulfil it and not the Centre. Writing to the Centre urging it to take on half this responsibility amounts to playing with the sentiments of farmers,” the SAD chief said.
“Everyone knows this letter has no locus-standi and will not be considered. This will give the Congress party an excuse to play politics on the issue by blaming the central government for not taking on half of the farm loan waiver burden,” he added.
Asking Channi not to run away from fulfilling the solemn promise made to the farmers of Punjab, Badal said the former had admitted in the letter the Congress had failed abysmally to implement its complete farm loan waiver promise.
He said the CM had also admitted in his letter that the Congress government had led thousands of farmers to commit suicide because it failed to waive off their loans as promised. “Channi has also admitted that farmers are being harassed and that recoveries are being made from them,” Badal added.