Waiving off farm loans, free laptops among BJP's poll promises

Batting for all-round development of Uttar Pradesh and wooing voters, the BJP on Saturday released its manifesto promising to waive off loans of marginal farmers, provide interest free loans to them and distribute laptops to the youth.

Releasing the manifesto here, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said that Uttar Pradesh had been "left behind" in the race for development.

"For the last 15 years Uttar pradesh has been ruled by either Samajwadi Party or Bahujan Samaj Party during which all the development works were stalled in the state; so we are going to bring in the era of performing politics," Shah said.

"If voted to power, we will make Uttar Pradesh a developed state in five years," he promised.

"I appeal to the people to give us one opportunity, and we promise to turn UP into a developed state."

Promising to waive off loans of small and marginal farmers, he said: "While the new loans to the small and marginal farmers would be given at zero per cent interest, the sugarcane farmers would get the payment of their crops within 14 days from sugar mills."

"Debt of Rs 6,000 crore of the sugarcane farmers will be cleared within 120 days if the BJP is voted to power," he said.

He also said his party would make arrangements to buy the yields of crops from farmers at the minimum support price.

For the drought-hit Bundelkhand region, Shah said, "The new BJP-led government would set up a Chief Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme with a budget of Rs 20,000 crore to make water available in every field of Bundelkhand."

Noting that the number of cattle were on the decline in the state, Shah said, "We will shut all the illegal slaughter houses in the state and ban all the automatic slaughter houses too."

To bring 'White Revolution' in the state, the BJP will start a Dairy Development Fund with Rs 15 crore, he said.

"For the state's milk collection with the help of the National Dairy Development Board a dairy processing unit would be formed for every four districts," Shah said.

The party also promised to create a fund of Rs 150 crore for agricultural development in the next five years.

Targetting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav over his laptop distribution scheme, Shah said, "We won't discriminate with any student of any caste or religion to distribute the laptops.

"We will distribute laptops to youth with 1 GB free internet for an year," Shah said.