Rahul's attempting to register his presence after vacation: BJP

The BJP today scoffed at Congress president Rahul Gandhi's criticism of its government over the condition of farmers, terming it as an attempt to register his presence after spending "yet another vacation" abroad, and claimed that the Modi dispensation had done "1000 per cent more" than the UPA for the community.

Citing the expenditure by the central government on procuring some major produce, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters here that the corresponding figures under the Congress-led UPA government were many times less.

Rejecting Gandhi's charge that the government had waived loans of Rs 2.50 lakh crore given to industrialists, he asked on what grounds Gandhi was spreading such a "lie".

On the contrary the insolvency and bankruptcy law enacted by the government had resulted in recovery of loans from industrialists and keeping defaulters out of the company's ownership, he said.

"It is you (Congress) that was giving loans to the likes of Vijay Mallya while the law brought by us seeks to seize even the overseas assets of the defaulters," Patra said.

The procurement of lentils, oil seeds and cotton under the UPA in 2011-14 was 16,04,447 metric tonnes while it was 61,81,840 metric tonnes under the NDA government in 2014-17, an increase of 285 per cent, he said.

"The money spent by the UPA government in this period was Rs 8,310 crore while the NDA spent Rs 42,970 cr, 417 per cent," he said.

"Still you are asking questions Rahul Gandhi. You should have known better," he said.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) is trying to mislead farmers, the country. Rahul Gandhi had gone out to spend his vacation and is now trying to register his presence. He is trying to let people know that he has come back," he said.

At a rally in Mandsaur in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi today promised farmers loan waiver within 10 days if his party comes to power, and slammed the central and state governments over the plight of the agriculturists.