The newly-appointed chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath on Monday cleared the farmers’ loan waiver file immediately after assuming office.

The loan of farmers up to Rs 2 lakh would be waived off.

"The Madhya Pradesh government hereby takes the decision of waiving of loans taken by farmers up to Rs 2 lakh from nationalised and cooperative banks," read the letter signed by Rajesh Rajora, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Horticulture and Food Processing.

Earlier, during the election campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised farm loan waiver in ten days if the party forms governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

"You are going to make Congress party's government in the state. Within ten days of government formation, Congress will waive farmers' loan in the state," Rahul had said.

Riding on its promise of farm loan waiver, the Congress won 114 seats, two seats short of the majority in the 230-member House.

72-year-old Kamal Nath was sworn in as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh after the Congress named the nine-time Lok Sabha member from Chhindwara to head the state Congress Legislature Party, following hours of hectic parleys held by party chief Rahul Gandhi and party leaders.

With inputs from IANS.

First Published:Dec 17, 2018 5:15 PM IST