Following in the footsteps of his brother and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Minister for Public Works H.D. Revanna on Thursday sought from Prime Minister Narendra Modi 50% financial support to waive farm loans in the State and also sought the support of BJP MPs from Karnataka in this regard.
Speaking to presspersons, he said that the BJP, which is bringing pressure on the government to waive loans here, should impress upon Mr. Modi to share the burden.
“It is better we take the support of BJP MPs and leaders, as they are very much concerned about the plight of farmers in the State,” he said. “I will speak to Mr. Kumaraswamy on taking a delegation to the Prime Minister to appraise him about the situation in Karnataka and appeal to him at to least lend support on waiver of farm loans,” he added.
However, he asserted that the JD(S)-Congress coalition government was committed to the waiver of farm loans irrespective of other factors. “Farm loans in co-operative sector itself are around ₹13,000 crore. We have to sort that out first,” he explained.
Citing devolution of Central funds to States considering the 2011 Census instead of the 1971 Census and accusing the Centre of discriminating between States, Mr. Revanna said that it was Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala which had lost in the process.