Rajnath Singh in Saraipali. (Source: PTI)

The Congress promise of a loan waiver for farmers has taken centrestage ahead of the second phase of Chhattisgarh elections, with the BJP alleging that the party had failed to live up to a similar promise to farmers of Karnataka.

Senior BJP officials said they intend to take up the issue of Karnataka in a big way in the next three days, with most of the seats in the second phase dominated by farmers and their issues. The Congress, meanwhile, has questioned why the BJP feels the need to question one of its manifesto promises, given their inability to fulfil the promises made in 2013.

On Thursday, the loan waiver promise was a primary subject when Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressed reporters after a two-day campaign across the state for the BJP. Singh said, “The Congress and other opposition parties are struggling with credibility issues. The manifesto released by the Congress is an admission that the party has lost its credibility. Its manifesto is as meaningless as a post-dated cheque of a bankrupt bank. The Congress takes support of blatant lies. It talks about loan waiver, but in Karnataka, warrants are being slapped on farmers (for not repaying loans) and they are being arrested.”

Senior BJP leaders said they intended to raise the pitch on this issue in the next three days in the last leg of the campaign.

The BJP, however, admitted that it was moved into action after understanding the traction the Congress was getting with its poll promise. “Loans are a big problem for farmers, and we did feel it necessary to puncture the Congress claims,” the leader said.

The Congress saw party president Rahul Gandhi declare the promise of loan waiver early in the campaign, and since then have promised to pay the two years of bonus not given by the BJP government and price of Rs 2,500 per quintal for paddy. On Thursday, senior Congress leaders drank ‘Gangajal’ and said they would stay true to the promise of loan waiver within 10 days.