Punjab CM Amarinder Singh calls on PM, FM; eyes farm loan waiver

New Delhi: Newly-appointed Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley and made a strong pitch for a loan waiver for farmers of the state. Mr Singh met the Prime Minister in his Parliament complex office, first time after becoming the chief minister.

“I mentioned the debt waiver issue to the PM. It was an extension of the demand we made earlier when we had gone to meet the PM as part of a Congress delegation led by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi,” he told the media after the meeting. “I said the debt loan waiver should be extended to Punjab farmers along the lines of Uttar Pradesh,” he added. Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal also accompanied Mr Singh.

Farm loans waiver was one of the major poll plank of the Congress in recently-concluded Punjab Assembly elections. The party had distributed also kisan maang patras or forms to all farm households seeking details of the loan liabilities of the farmers.

Over who would be the next chief of Punjab Congress, Mr Singh said, “Let Congress president Sonia Gandhi return. I will request her to choose someone else since I as CM of Punjab cannot handle both the positions.”

Talking about his Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu’s decision to continue with his appearance in a comedy television show, Mr Singh said the latter is a very intelligent man and is earning his own keep. “He is earning his own keep. What objection can we have to someone earning his own money by his own means? People can have professions and run businesses. However, we have asked the Punjab advocate general Ashok Aggarwal for an opinion and may change Sidhu’s portfolio as culture and tourism minister, if we are advised to,” he said.

“Let’s see what the legal position is if it is not proper we may have to change his (Sidhu’s) portfolio,” he added.