New Delhi, June 13 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said that no other party in power at the Centre has done so much for the farmers’ community, while recalling that the Congress-led UPA government had waived farmers’ loans to the extent of Rs 60,000 crores.

Sonia was addressing a farmers rally in Guwahati this afternoon.

“Besides the Congress, no other party running government at the Centre, even the BJP, has done so much for the farmers in terms of giving subsidies or waiving loans,” claimed Sonia.

About the recent hike in prices of petrol and diesel, she said, “this hike was essential, but we haven’t hiked the price of kerosene keeping in mind the poor and the farmers community”.

In the words of Veerappa Moily, the Congress General Secretary In-charge of Assam, the rally was a “huge success”. “It was a mammoth rally in Guwahati today”, he told ANI while speaking over phone from Guwahati.

Later in the day, the AICC president is scheduled to present the prestigious Srimanta Sankardeva National Award to noted journalist BG Verghese and Kesabananda Deva Goswami, an exponent of Assamese Satriya culture, at a function here.

Sonia is slated to arrive in poll-bound state Mizoram tomorrow to inspect the extent of crop damage, particularly due to bamboo flowering which breeds rats and other insects, said party general Secretary In-charge of Mizroram affairs, Margaret Alva.

Crop damage is particularly witnessed in Garo and Khasi hills bordering Assam. According to an estimate by the State Agriculture Department, this would cause a loss of over 75 per cent of the crop this year.

Paddy and maize, and vegetables like cucumber, beans, and pumpkins have also been affected in the region

Sonia’s visit to Mizoram assumes significance in the wake of forthcoming Assembly polls in the state, slated for November. Her focus seems to be issues concerning farmers and those depending on others forms of agriculture. (ANI)