In a shocking development, the Times Now has reported that a mini co-operative bank in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan has named people for farm loan waiver who had never actually taken any loans. According to the inputs by Times Now, at least 1700 people who had never taken any loans, find themselves on the beneficaries’ list. And this is only the district of Dungarpur that has come into limelight and this could very well be just the tip of the iceberg. This instance of a major irregularity has currently been reported from a village in the Dungarpur district and the possibility of similar irregularities from other districts cannot be ruled out.
According to Times Now, this is not a technical mistake and the Times Now has claimed that it has been confirmed from several sources and multiple officials. This, therefore, could be a case of major scam days after the Gehlot government came to power in the state of Rajasthan. Although, we will have to wait for an official investigation to find out if it was a scam or not. Congress will have a hard explaining such irregularities in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and this could create a situation similar to the 2014 polls when the Congress faced a humiliating defeat due to the graft allegations, among other major reasons.
At this juncture, it is important to mention that the farm loan waiver has become a crucial political issue. The Congress president, Rahul Gandhi has been trying hard to score political brownie points on account of farm loan waiver. The Congress came to power in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after promising farm loan waivers. The grand old party started acting as if the farm loan waiver is going to be a panacea for all farm problems. After the newly elected Congress governments in the said states announced farm loan waiver, Rahul Gandhi made a desperate attempt to make political gains and tweeted,
It's done!
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh have waived farm loans.
We asked for 10 days.
We did it in 2.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 19, 2018
Thereafter, the Congress and its ecosystem went into a mode of jubilation and started celebrating the farm loan waiver on the belief that it will help them in winning the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, what has been now reported by the Times Now must have come as a major blow for the Congress as well as its entire ecosystem. This report will have two major consequences, one would be that Congress will no longer be able to project itself as a benevolent party towards the farmers of the country. It does not go well for the perception that the grand old party was trying to create for itself. Another consequence will be that the Congress will once again come under attack for graft allegations against it. If something highly substantial comes out of this initial report, the BJP will get a golden opportunity to mount an attack on the Congress and that could play a major role in building a narrative similar to the one before 2014 elections against the Congress.
This will also expose how the farm loan waiver scheme is nothing but a political tool for the Congress to reap rich electoral dividends in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.