Loan waiver will be announced in first Cabinet meet: Baghel

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister-designate Bhupesh Baghel said Sunday that a loan waiver for farmers will be announced in the first meeting of the new state Cabinet.

Baghel, who will be taking the oath of office Monday afternoon, also said that a Special Investigation Team will be constituted to probe the 2013 Jhiram Valley Naxal attack in which several senior Congress leaders were killed.

"In the first Cabinet meeting, the loan waiver will be announced and an SIT will be constituted to probe the Jhiram valley incident," Baghel told reporters here.

"Promises made by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to farmers will be our first priority. To probe the conspiracy behind the Jhiram valley incident will also be our priority," he said.

"Our focus will be on the welfare of farmers, tribals, youth, women and small traders," he added.

The Congress' manifesto had promised to waive the loans of farmers within 10 days of coming to power.

It had also promised a bonus on paddy procurement and a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,500 per quintal of paddy.

Baghel, a five-time MLA from Patan and the state Congress chief, was named earlier Sunday as the next chief minister at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting.

He will take oath at 4.30 PM at Science College ground here Monday.

In a Naxal attack in Jhiram Valley in Bastar district on May 25, 2013, almost entire state Congress leadership was wiped out.

State Congress chief Nandkumar Patel and former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma were among those killed.

The Congress had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.