Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony has said that a debt-ridden farmer in the country will neither commit suicide nor will he be sent to jail if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government comes to power in the 17th parliament election.
Addressing media persons at Thalapuzha, near Mananthavady, in the district on Tuesday, Mr. Antony said all farm loans would be waived if the UPA government came to power at the Centre after the general election.
Welfare scheme
The UPA would give preference to a scheme under which ₹6,000 a month would be deposited to the account of the senior woman of a farmer family, he added.
The election manifesto of the UPA was prepared by by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram after consulting various organisations, including farmer organisations and laymen in the country, instead by any polit bureau or a group of politicians in a closed chamber.
The previous UPA government had successfully written off all farmer loans worth ₹52,000 crore, Mr . Antony said. Thousands of farmers were forced to leave the agrarian sector under the reign of the National Democratic Alliance government owing to its anti-farmer polices.
The candidature of Mr. Rahul Gandhi in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency would create waves in the country, including a proactive wave to Mr. Gandhi himself and a wave against the reign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
The wave would help the United Democratic Front to win 20 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the State and it would also have its reflection on the election in all parts of the country, especially in South India, Mr. Antony said.
When the deluge had devoured the State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited the flood-affected areas in a helicopter instead of consoling the flood-hit by meeting them directly. A huge amount of money flowed to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund, but it was not utilised properly, he said.