Following what Congress did in recently concluded assembly Polls, The Bhartiya Janta Party‘s Odisha unit on Tuesday promised to waive farm loans in the state if the party comes to power in the 2019 Assembly elections.
BJP State President Basant Panda at a Press Conference made the announcement. Assembly elections in Odisha are due in 2019 along with the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
Panda told reporters that his party will also work towards making provision of Interest-free loans for the farmers in the State. “We will waive farm loans if BJP comes to power in the state in the 2019 Assembly elections”.
He also announces that BJP will launch a massive campaign from Wednesday till January 7 ‘Mandi Chala Abhiyan’ in a bid to highlighting the difficulties faced by farmers at different ‘mandis’. The BJP members would protest irregular functioning of ‘mandis’ and delay in paddy procurement across the state.
Even as the State Government claimed to have opened 4,381 ‘mandis’ for paddy procurement, Panda said many of those are yet to function. He also added that BJP Workers will gherao State Secretariat on January with a demand of Farm Loan Waiver.
Earlier, Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janta Dal had already given a call to gherao Parliament seeking proper MSP on Paddy.
BJD reacted to the BJP’s move of Gherao and said BJP will not succeed in its design to divert attention by organizing a gherao on the same day. BJD Spokesperson PK Deb termed Mandi Chala Abhiyan as farce.
Earlier, state Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik announced that they would waive loan of farmers if Congress comes to power in Odisha in the 2019 Assembly elections.
Agrarian Crisis and farmer distress across the nation has become a big issue and will surely have an impact on upcoming Lok Sabha 2019 Elections.
