Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that farmers, troubled by the agriculture distress, showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi their strength in the recent assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states, including Rajasthan, in which the BJP lost power to the Congress.

Addressing a farmers' rally in Jaipur the first after Congress formed the government in Rajasthan, he also promised to waive farm loans in every state if the Congress is voted to power in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress president, however, said waiving farm loans is a small step towards addressing the agriculture distress and "a new green revolution (harit kranti) is needed to address the problem."

Attacking Modi for not participating in the debate on the multi-crore Rafale jet deal, Gandhi said, "Chowkidaar could not stand in Lok Sabha for a minute during the debate on Rafale issue."

Gandhi has been playing on the word "chowkidaar", used by Modi after his election to say that he will not allow corruption on his watch, to target the prime minister.

"We demand a JPC probe of the Rafale deal," Gandhi said, asserting that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman could not reply to his questions during the debate on the issue in Lok Sabha.

The Congress wrested power from the BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December.

First Published:Jan 9, 2019 3:10 PM IST