Congress hands over loan waiver documents to Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was on Tuesday handed over a list of 21 lakh farmers whose farm loans have been waived, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday.

"I came to know that a white lie is being spread by the former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan regarding the farm loan waiver by our government. A delegation-led by Suresh Pachauri today handed Shivraj ji a list of 21 lakh farmers whose loans have been waived off," Kamal Nath said at press conference here.

"This is available on the Agriculture Department's portal. It seems Shivraj ji does not know how to access the portal. We provided the list for his convenience," he said.

Earlier in the day, Chouhan accused the Congress government not waving ofarmer loans, even when party president Rahul Gandhi claimed to do so within 10 days after coming into power.

"On the one hand the Congress government here is claiming that they have waived the loans of all the farmers. However, farmers are still receiving notices for not paying their debts. I appeal to the state government and CM Kamal Nath that they should satisfy the farmers rather than making me feel contended by paying money to the banks," Chouhan had said.

Replying to Chouhan, the Chief Minister said: "He quoted Rahul Gandhi saying loans will be waived in 10 days. He has been chief minister for 10 years. I did not expect him to talk like this. He must have this much knowledge that there are some processes involved in any government decision. We do not have a magic wand."

Clarifying his party president's comments, Kamal Nath said: "Rahul ji said loans will be waived in 10 days. We gave directions for the same within two hours after assuming power."

In the run-up to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections last year, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had promised to waive farm loans within 10 days of forming the government.