Nobody needs Rahul's advice, says Minister

Reacting to Congress President Rahul Gandhis jibe that it was time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to wake up on farmers issues, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said nobody needs Gandhis advice.

"The reforms for farmers that have taken place under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi are historic. He has ensured that farmers are insured from seed to the market and get better facilities. Therefore, Rahul need not advice us," Tomar said outside Parliament.

He said that wins and losses were part of the game in a democracy and one should not go overboard in victory.

"The whole country knows that the Prime Minister keeps awake while Rahul Gandhi sleeps," Tomar, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in Assam and Gujarat announced waiver of farm loans and rural electricity bills, respectively, the Congress chief on Wednesday said it was now time for "sleeping" PM Modi to wake up.

Gandhi claimed both states made the move under pressure from the Congress, which immediately after forming governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh waived farm loans delivering on its pre-poll promise.

"The Congress party has managed to awaken the Chief Ministers of Assam and Gujarat from their deep slumber. Prime Minister is still asleep. We will wake him up, too," tweeted Gandhi. 

While the BJP-led government in Gujarat on Tuesday announced it will waive electricity bills in rural areas, in Assam on Monday it approved a Rs 600-crore farm loan waiver.

Gandhi's latest attack comes a day after he vowed that the Congress and other opposition parties would not let Modi sleep until all farm loans were waived.  - IANS