Pooh-poohing the remarks of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that he would shoulder the responsibility of clearing the Andhra Pradesh farmers' loans, the YSR Congress said that farmers were in utter confusion as he was going back on his promise on some pretext or the other.
It said that the Party would hold dharnas on Oct 16 at all mandal headquarters highlighting the failures of the TDP government.
"The Chief Minister's remark at Anantapur that it was his responsibility to clear the loans of the farmers is been an old tune which he has been singing from since before the elections. He has not however fulfilled a single promise, and farmers are in distress and confused due to his delay and dilly-dallying. There is restlessness among the farmers, and we will be taking up their cause and holding dharnas across the State on October 16," Party spokesperson Ambati Rambabu told reporters on Tuesday.
With every passing day, the anxiety and disappointment among the farmers and DWACRA women groups was increasing, he said. Since Chandrababu Naidu was used to promising and failing to keep up his promises, the people were not able to believe him despite his putting up a brave face at the Anantapur meeting.
"Instead, the Chief Minister should persuade the RBI Governor, who will be in city soon, to give this assurance, which will bring some credence to his remarks. He has given impracticable promises, and has set up committees and even a Farmers Empowerment Corporation aimed at clearing 20% loans and issuing bonds for the rest.
"Nothing concrete has been done so far, and not a single loan has been waived, and the Chief Minister saying that he is struggling to do the balancing act is ridiculous, as he had described as inexperience our leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's apprehensions over his being able to clear loans to the tune of Rs. 1.27 lakh crores," Rambabu said scornfully.
The experienced TDP leader had also told the Election Commission that he had a full grip on the State's economy, and that his Party had done its homework for the loan waiver. The people too believed it and voted the TDP to power. And now he was only trying to finding ways to drastically reduce the quantum of loans, Rambabu alleged.
The total agriculture loan waiver originally proposed had been reduced to crop loan waiver, and then loans against gold were deleted from the list, too, which was then shrunk further to one loan per family, he remarked.
"With such a dubious sequence of actions of the Chief Minister, the farmers are bound to be sufferers, and as a responsible Opposition Party we will take up their cause by holding dharnas," he said. (INN)