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“Did You Receive Farm Loan Waiver” Smriti Irani Asked, Crowd Said…

Bhopal: 

As Union Minister Smriti Irani campaigned in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday ahead of the fifth phase of voting, one of her attacks on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi seemingly backfired.

The senior BJP leader asked a crowd gathered at her rally in Ashoknagar, about 200 km from state capital Bhopal, whether they had received farm loans waivers from the state government as promised by Mr Gandhi.

“Yes, we have,” an emphatic crowd responded, and then repeated it.

“Yes, we have.”

A video of the incident was shared by the Madhya Pradesh Congress on Twitter. Smriti Irani can be seen pausing during her speech, as the crowd roared.

“Now even the people have started calling out their lies,” said the party, captioning the video.

NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the video.

Rahul Gandhi, against whom Ms Irani is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi seat, has made farm loan waivers his big poll promise in the national election as well. Farmers’ distress has been a highlight of the Congress’s election campaign, with the party promising bringing a separate budget for farmers aimed at farm loan waivers and fairer prices for crops.

Ms Irani had lost to Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 national elections, but by a margin of around one lakh in a family stronghold he had won since 2004. She has been accusing Mr Gandhi of neglecting his constituency. Her attacks intensified after the Congress president decided to contest from a second constituency – Kerala’s Wayanad – for the first time.

Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have often attacked the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh on the issue of farm loan waivers – one of the key pre-poll promises made by the party. Unpaid farm loan had been behind several suicides in the state over the recent years and farm loan waiver had been one of the key promises of the party.

The Congress, when it won elections to three states last year, had promised farm loan waivers. Rahul Gandhi has often bragged about implementing the loan waivers immediately after the Congress came to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

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