Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a significant waiver of approximately Rs 48,000 crore in pending electricity dues for farmers, aiming to facilitate new agricultural power connections and support the state's agricultural sector.
Gandhi said farmers asked him during his Bharat Jodo and Bharat Jodo Nyay yatras about why they were not getting the benefit of loan waivers like billionaire industrialists or MSP (minimum support price) for farm produce.
Announcing yet another pre-poll "guarantee" in Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his party, if voted to power in the state, will waive farm loans and also create a mechanism to buy produce from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
'Some farmers know when elections are due.' 'Before that, they take loans.' 'They then ask their farmer unions for loan waivers and the political party who shouts first about a loan waiver (gets the votes).'
Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Over 93% of the orders in the year came from the central and state governments, PSUs, and NHAI.
With Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis having turned down the demand to write-off farm loan, Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the curse of farmers, with whose blessings the government came to power, could ruin everything.
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
The BJP veteran was detained on Monday evening while protesting against the state government's "apathy" towards the farmers of Vidarbha. He was taken to the district police headquarters and later released.
'Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called us for a meeting in March 2016 and we submitted the same charter of demands that we are submitting now.' 'He gave us wishy-washy assurances.' 'We thought he was the new chief minister and we believed him, but later we found out that nothing is moving on the ground.' 'This time we want a written assurance and a concrete timetable for implementation.' 'We will not leave Mumbai, come what may.'
Modi, while speaking at a poll rally in Gujarat on Sunday, had sought to link the dinner meeting hosted by Aiyar for Pakistani dignitaries and attended by Manmohan Singh, among others, with the ongoing assembly polls and a conspiracy against the BJP.
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
The two-day rally will be one of the largest congregations of farmers in Delhi, the AIKSCC has claimed.
The Opposition on Monday charged the government with trying to promote crony capitalism, creating fear by giving "unbridled power" to taxmen, trying to snoop into people's lives through increased use of Aadhaar through the provisions of the Finance Bill.
