Congress President Rahul Gandhi promised on Wednesday to waive farm loans within 10 days of coming to power in Madhya Pradesh, projecting his party as farmer-friendly in Mandsaur district where six people were killed in police firing during a protest over crop prices a year ago.
“We want to change your lives…You will get the reward for your hard work,” media reports quoted Gandhi as saying in the politically crucial state that will vote to elect a new government later this year.
Gandhi also met the families of the victims of the June 6 police firing and said his party, if elected to power, will launch a probe into the incident.
“The probe report has not come out even after one year of the Mandsaur firing…Today I tried to share the pain of the victims’ families by spending some time with them,” Gandhi posted on Twitter.
Demanding better prices for their products, farmers in 2017 held state-wide protests that were marred by violence, with Mandsaur emerging as the epicentre of the stir.
In Wednesday’s rally, Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying to the poor, and misleading the youth, who were promised "two crore" jobs.
Gandhi promised to devote “all our energies” to save farmers and create employment for the youth.
“The truth is PM Modi and (his party) BJP are not concerned about farmers. Helping their rich businessmen friends is their only priority.”
The Congress leader also held a meeting with the party’s state leadership, news agency PTI reported.
The Congress looks to cash in on perceived discontent among farmers to dislodge the BJP, which has been ruling Madhya Pradesh since 2003.