Farmers vote bank for Congress, annadaatas for us: Modi

​Daltonganj (Jharkhand): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday derided the Congress on its promise of farm loan waivers in the aftermath of its victory in the recently concluded assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states. Modi said the farmers across the country were just a vote bank for the Congress. "Farmers are a vote bank for Congress, and we consider farmers our annadaata (food providers). This is the difference between Congress and BJP," Modi said.

He added, "There wouldn't have been a need for farmers to take loans had the previous Congress governments completed the projects that were meant to benefit farmers. First, they forced farmers to take loans, now they're misleading them in the name of loan waivers." 

Modi continued his attack on the Congress, citing the various projects that are named after Gandhis. "We didn't make Narendra Modi Awas Yojana, we didn't make Namo Awas Yojana, we didn't make Raghubar Das Awas Yojana, we made Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana so that the next Prime Minister can take the work forward," he said. 

The Prime Minister earlier in the day laid foundation stones for several irrigation projects in Jharkhand, including Rs 2,391.36 crore Mandal dam, which will provide irrigation to 19,604-hectare area in Palamu and Garhwa districts.

Prior to addressing a rally, he also handed over keys of houses to five beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The Mandal dam, work on which began in 1972, but was stalled since 1993, will be built on the North Koel river in Barwadih block of Latehar district. Taking a dig at previous governments, Modi said they were least bothered about farmers' welfare in Jharkhand, and the delay in completing the Mandal dam project was proof of that.