‘I don’t make false promises,’ says Rahul Gandhi on farm loan waiver, job assurance

Going all out to woo farmers and youth in poll-bound Rajasthan, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday promised to waive farm loans in ten days if voted to power in the state and said the Congress chief minister will work for 18 hours a day to help youth get jobs.

Speaking at an election rally in Jaisalmer district’s Pokhran constituency, he described Congress workers as ‘sher’ and ‘babbar sher’ and said they have to fight on booths but with gentleness unlike RSS or BJP workers.

“You (people) are going to make Congress party’s government in the state. Within ten days of government formation, Congress will waive farmers’ loan in the state,” he said.

Gandhi said he had made the same promise in Punjab and Karnataka elections and Congress governments there have waived farmers’ loan. “You may call and ask any farmer in Punjab and Karnataka and check whether their loans have been waived or not by the Congress party. I do not make false promises. Whatever I, Sachin Pilot or Ashok Gehlot are saying from this stage, we will do that,” he said. He said the chief minister of Congress will work for 18 hours in a day and will be engaged in getting youth jobs.

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Alleging that “Modi waived 3.5 lakh crore of top 15 industrialists”, he said, “We will give loans of lakhs to crores of youths. We will give bank loans to youths to set up small business, factories and will ask them to give jobs to others”. The allegations that the prime minister waived loans of industrialists have been denied by the Centre.

Gandhi said he will only speak the truth and will not make any promise which cannot be fulfilled. “The bond between you and me should be that of transparency. Many things can be done by truthfulness. Farmers’ loan can be waived off and schemes like MGRENGA can be introduced with truthfulness,” he said.

He also attacked the prime minister over the Rafale deal and other issues.

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Targeting Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, Gandhi said that she had in an advertisement talked about a school in Bharatpur and said the school had fans, furniture, drinking water, playground etc. but journalists went there and found that the school had nothing, no fan no drinking water.

He also told Congress workers not to speak ill about the prime minister or chief minister.

“You are a solider of the Congress and not a RSS or BJP worker. Fight with manners. Do not use any bad word for anyone, be it PM or CM. It is their work to abuse, not ours. We will speak good of them,” he said. Earlier in the day, Gandhi visited the Ajmer dargah and Pushkar and offered prayers before addressing election rallies.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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