Yeddyurappa urges govt to waive farm loans

 Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has said that the BJP will not stop its struggle for farmers’ welfare until the State government waives the loans borrowed by farmers.

Addressing a huge gathering of farmers at the valedictory of first phase of Raitha Chaitanaya Yatre here on Sunday, Yeddyurappa, who is also the BJP national vice president, said that the Siddaramaiah government was in coma even as farmers were ending lives because of their inability to repay loans.

“The government springs into action only when All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-president Rahul Gandhi crack the whip,” he said.

Quoting statistics provided by the chief minister himself, Yeddyurappa said that the State government had not spent even a single pie from the Rs 2,300-crore fund allotted this fiscal for development of backward areas.

Opposition leader in Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa advised the farmers to not to repay the loans, promising that the party would waive the loans once it returns to power after two years.  State BJP president and Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi said that the party, during the course of its campaign, interacted with seven-eight lakh farmers. The second phase of the yatre will start in October first week. Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha member Shobha Karandlaje said that the Yeddyurappa-led BJP government will come to power in the State again.