Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Tuesday accused the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government of increasing the debt burden on the state and asked how it increased by over 1.70 lakh crore in just five years.
The debt burden on the state was Rs 1.29 lakh crore when the BJP came to power in 2013, but it increased to Rs 3 lakh crore in five years, he said.
Our former (Congress) government had left a debt of Rs 1.29 lakh crore (in 2013). It was a debt of the last 30-40 years, but it increased to Rs 3 lakh crore in the last five years. The debt increased by close to Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the five years, Gehlot said.
How did this happen, he asked, saying former chief minister Raje should answer.
Gehlot was responding to a question on the financial challenge before the government after it announced farm loan waiver, which will have a burden of Rs18,000 crore on the state exchequer.
The chief minister also demanded from the NDA government at the Centre to waive farm loans across the country like the Congress had done after coming to power recently in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
He also said a big rally of farmers will be organised in the state soon to put pressure on the Modi government to waive loans.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will again call upon the PM to waive farmers' loan and the details will be finalised after a discussion with the state Congress president, Gehlot added.
"The Congress has fulfilled its promise to waive farmers' loan in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after coming to power and work on it has begun. The NDA government should also waive farm loans," he said.
He alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had waived bad loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore of select industrialists when loans of farmers should have been the priority.
"The former UPA government (at the Centre) had waived farmers' loans worth Rs 72,000 crore and the Congress (governments) in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have also announced to waive loans," Gehlot told reporters here.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, he said there are only two persons ruling the country.
"It is not the BJP that is ruling, but two persons, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, are ruling the country. The BJP and the RSS people, too, have understood this. There is an environment of hatred, violence and insensitivity.
"Fake promises were made to the public in the last Lok Sabha elections but things are going to be changed after the (2019 general) elections," he said.
Gehlot said Modi will not become the prime minister again.
He said the BJP used to talk about a Congress-free country, but now that party is going to be "freed". "Things will change in the country after May (Lok Sabha polls), he said.
Gehlot also criticised the decisions of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax, saying a number of people died due to note-ban.
The chief minister also targeted the BJP for making an issue on the delay in the announcement of the chief minister's name, formation of cabinet and in the allocation of portfolios in Rajasthan.
Why do they forget that it took seven days in Uttar Pradesh and nine days in Maharashtra to declare their chief ministers. They have no answer to this, he said.
Asked about his remark that his government will review the decisions taken by the previous dispensation in the last six months, Gehlot said there will be no vindictive action.
He said the law will take its own course.
We have no prejudice. The former government had vendetta and framed people in false cases, suspended officials and people were sent to jail. We will not do that. But if anyone has done something wrong and is caught, then action should be taken against the person, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)