Farmers' debt doubled in last five years: Chidambaram

Farmers' debt doubled in last five years: Chidambaram
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Jaipur: Not farmers' income but their debt doubled in the last five years of the Modi government, former finance minister P Chidambaram alleged Saturday.

The Congress leader also expressed confidence that his party and its alliance partners will maintain lead over the BJP at the end of the fifth phase of polling on Monday.

"Farmers' income will be doubled (if the Congress comes to power). In the last five years, farmers' income has not doubled but their debt has doubled," Chidambaram told reporters here.

Jobs is the number one issue in the country and 4 lakh vacant posts in the government will be filled when the Congress comes to power, he said.

Chidambaram said another issue is farmers' distress.

"I cannot find a single farmer in the country today who can say that his life is better today than the life in 2014," the Congress leader said.

He alleged that the government had written off huge amounts of industrialists, but has no money for farm loan waiver.

On the prospects of his party in the general elections, Chidambaram said the Congress and its alliance partners are ahead of the BJP in the country.

"Congress and its alliances are ahead of the BJP. At the end of the fifth phase of election, we are confident that our alliance will maintain a lead over the BJP's alliances," he said.

The BJP won all the seats in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and nearly all seats in Madhya Pradesh in the last elections, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not fulfil any of the promises he had made to the people of these states, the former Union minister alleged.

Claiming that Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts of every citizen and two crore jobs, he said these along with other promises remain unfulfilled.

Highlighting the Congress's election manifesto, he said it was prepared after discussion with people."Our manifesto is the voice of the people. This is not written by a person sitting in a room," Chidambaram said.

People are not discussing the BJP's manifesto, they are discussing the Congress's, he said.

On his party's proposed minimum income guarantee NYAY scheme, Chidambaram said it will revolutionise India's economy and states like Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh will be among the top beneficiaries of the scheme.

The Congress has always given new ideas and has implemented them. Some of these are Right to Education, Right to Information and Food Security, he said.