Gujarat polls: Cong assures farm loan waiver, Covid compensation if elected

The kin of nearly 3 lakh people "who died of COVID-19" in Gujarat will be given a compensation of Rs 4 lakh if Congress forms the government after polls, a senior party leader said

If voted to power in Gujarat in the 2022 Assembly polls, the Congress government will take a decision to waive all the agricultural loans in the first Cabinet meeting, newly-appointed state Congress unit president Jagdish Thakor said on Monday.

Another senior office-bearer said the kin of nearly 3 lakh people "who died of COVID-19" in Gujarat will be given a compensation of Rs 4 lakh if Congress forms the government after polls.

Days after their appointments, Thakor and five-time MLA Sukhram Rathva on Monday formally assumed charge as the new Gujarat Congress chief and the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, respectively, at a public function held here.

After taking over the charge from his predecessor Amit Chavda, Thakor said if Congress comes to power in Gujarat after the 2022 Assembly elections, the party's government will dcide to waive all agricultural loans in the state in the first Cabinet meeting.

Assembly polls in Gujarat, where BJP has been in power since 1995, are expected to be held in December 2022.

"My priority is farmers of Gujarat and over 50 lakh unemployed youths. Traders and shopkeepers are fed up with the BJP government and they want Congress to come to power. We could not win in the past because we are not good at marketing. Let us start our preparations at the ground level to win the upcoming elections", said Thakor, a former MP, while addressing Congress workers at the party's headquarters here.

Newly-appointed opposition leader Sukhram Rathva, a tribal leader who has replaced Patidar face, Paresh Dhanani, urged party cadres to work on the ground instead of remaining a "leader on paper".

The five-time MLA exuded confidence in uprooting BJP by taking along all the classes.

Gujarat Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma said the party if elected to power, will give Rs 4 lakh compensation to the kin of nearly 3 lakh people who have lost their lives in Gujarat due to coronavirus.

"Even if this decision would cost Rs 12,000 crore to the state exchequer, we will take that decision in the first Cabinet meeting after coming to power in 2022," said Sharma.