Gujarat Cong to lay siege of Assembly for loan waiver

The Gujarat Congress would organise a farmers’ rally and lay siege to the state Assembly on Tuesday, the first day of the two-day monsoon session on September 18 and 19, to demand farm loan waiver.

“The government has deliberately kept the Assembly session short so that it does not have to face inconvenient questions...The rally and siege are ways to raise farmer issues and way to vent their (farmers’) anger and frustration towards the BJP government,” Amit Chavda, state party president, told reporters here.

Chavda said that farmers from across the state would join the ‘Khedut Aakrosh’ (Farmers’ angst) rally in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. Other than farm loan waiver, the other demands put forth by the Congress include adequate minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce, good quality fertilisers and seeds at a reasonable rate, improved supply of water and electricity, scrapping of recently-conducted land survey based on satellite images which have many ‘discrepancies’.

“The first day of the session would get suspended after paying respect to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. There is no time for issues concerning farmers and other citizens of the state,” Chavda said.

This will be the second session of the 14th Gujarat Assembly following the elections in December 2017. The Assembly, earlier, met in February this year for the Budget session.

As for ruling establishment, the BJP plans to table at least five bills including paving the way for easy redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings in the urban areas, the formation of the commissioner for municipalities, the law against chain snatching cases, revision in GST tax rates and the formation of Biotechnology University.