Centre waives off loans only if a state votes for BJP, says Mani Shankar Aiyar

New Delhi: The Centre waives off farmers’ loans in a state only if it votes for the BJP, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday alleged after visiting Tamil Nadu farmers protesting at Jantar Mantar here. The former Congress MP was speaking to the media after expressing solidarity with farmers from the drought-hit southern state who were protesting for the last 15 days demanding a drought relief package of Rs 40,000 crore from the Centre and a loan waiver. [caption id=“attachment_3347208” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mani Shankar Aiyar. Reuters[/caption] “Centre waives off farmers’ loans in a state only if it votes for BJP. What kind of politics is this?” Aiyar asked. “How can the Centre say that they don’t have enough funds to waive off loans in this situation? They waived off loans when they came to power in other states,” Aiyar said, adding that he hopes the issues will get resolved in a few days. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submitted a letter of TN Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami requesting the Centre to fulfil the farmers’ demand. A delegation of OPS faction of AIADMK led by Member of Parliament V Maithreyan is also expected to visit the protesting farmers. Cutting across party lines, leaders of various political parties today visited the farmers and offered their support. DMK Rajya Sabha MPs T K S Elangovan and R S Bharathi and Pondicherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had also visited the farmers and offered their support. G K Vasan, the Tamil Manila Congress chief, is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee in the evening. “We are planning to meet the President and apprise him about the difficulties faced by farmers,” Vasan had said. The farmers are expected to meet Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the evening. DMK MP Tiruchi Siva is expected to accompany the farmers during the meeting with Jaitley.