‘I am confident Congress-JD(S) govt will waive farm loans’, says Rahul ahead of Karnataka budget

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is all set to present the state budget in a few hours from now.

New Delhi, July 5: As the issue of farm loan waiver is hogging the limelight since the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) alliance government came to power in Karnataka in May, just hours ahead of the new government's first budget in the state on Thursday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to speak on the much-talked-about subject.

The Congress chief on Wednesday exuded confidence that the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka will act on its promise of waiving farm loans in its budget and make the state a "beacon of hope" for farmers in the country.

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is all set to present the state budget in a few hours from now.

"On the eve of the Karnataka Budget, I'm confident our Congress-JDS coalition Government will act on our commitment to waive farmer loans and to make farming more profitable.

"This budget is an opportunity for our Government to make Karnataka a beacon of hope for farmers all across India," Rahul tweeted.

The Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) government is expected to announce a crop loan waiver in its budget to relieve farmers of their distress due to drought for successive years.

However, the issue of farm loan waiver caused rift among the partners within the coalition government. While the massive farm loan waiver is not an economically sane step to take for the new state regime, it will definitely give Kumaraswamy political dividends as his party promised to remove the cap on loans and waive up to Rs 53,000 crore before the May 12 Assembly elections in the state.