Will waive farm loans if voted to power in Haryana: Selja

The Congress will announce a loan waiver for the poor and farmers in the state if voted to power, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja has said.

In an interview to PTI, she said the Congress would not announce its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections and the same would be decided by the party high command after the polls.

The state Congress chief said the loan waiver promise would be part of the manifesto for the October 21 Haryana assembly polls and the document would be unveiled soon.

The Haryana Congress manifesto committee had submitted its report and final touches were being given to it, she said.

"When our government comes to power, we will waive loans of the poor, especially people who take small loans. We are also going to write off the loans of farmers who are being pushed to a corner and are suffering under the BJP government," she told PTI.

The Haryana Congress chief said the loan waiver would be implemented within days of assuming power as has been done in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

"We will carry out our promises within days and weeks of coming to power. We will give timelines. We will see to it that people see the difference between us and others who only make tall claims and believe in mere publicity and headline management," she said.

Selja, who took reins of the Haryana Congress from Ashok Tanwar, said the Congress believed in fulfilling its poll promises "unlike the BJP", which only used these to "mislead" the voters.

"The abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir is another tool the BJP is using to befool people," she said.

Asked to comment on Tanwar's resignation and his allegations on the Congress Party being the anti-thesis of democracy, Selja said, "The Congress has seen such rebellions in the past and has always come out stronger due to its inherent strengths. The Congress has the resilience to take these things."
On the current crisis gripping the party wherein Tanwar and former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam have both alleged conspiracy against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's aides, Selja said, "The Congress leadership has always overcome such temporary challenges."
Taking on Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, she said the BJP Government in the state had "given the Congress plenty to go to the people about."