By Express News Service
BENGALURU:Allaying doubts about fulfilling his promise on waiver of farm loans, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday declared that the farm loans would be waived as promised in the JD(S)’ election manifesto.
Referring to reports about his statement that he had not got a full mandate to implement his promise of farm loan waiver, he said: “I have already prepared the blue print for farm loan waiver after wide discussions with economic experts. We need Rs 53,000 cr to waive the entire farm loans, which would put enormous strain on the state’s economy. We will fulfill the promise in a manner not affecting the state’s economy.”
“I refrained myself from announcing the decision in the last two days as such a unilateral gesture from my side even before taking oath as CM would have miffed Congress leadership. I want both the parties to take claim for the good work,” Kumaraswamy explained.
Not keen on separate Lingayat religion
The new coalition government is set to give a quiet burial to the previous Siddaramaiah Government’s decision to accord separate minority religion status to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. Replying to a question about the issue, Kumaraswamy said, “I have already conveyed my view on the issue. There are far more important and pressing issues to be addressed. We will accord priority for those issues.”
HDK changes tune on rotational CM
The issue of sharing the chief ministership on a rotational basis between the Congress and the JD(S) is likely to come up for discussion as the coalition partners sit down to thrash out the modalities for the smooth functioning of the coalition government. Kumaraswamy, who had earlier asserted that he will be CM for the entire five-year term and “there is no question of rotational chief ministeriship”, changed tune at the press conference.
Replying to a question, Kumaraswamy said, “We have not drawn up the modalities for the coalition government yet. Right now the focus is on giving a good government and a stable government. This government will last full five years… that is for sure.”
