Sagar/Ashoknagar: Union minister Smriti Irani had some awkward moments during an election rally in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday when she asked the crowd if their farm loans were waived. To the leader's dismay, the people responded "yes".
Addressing a rally in Ashoknagar, Irani referred to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's poll promise ahead of the Assembly elections. She asked the people if Gandhi actually fulfilled his promise and waived off loans. The crowd cheered and shouted: "yes, the loans were waived off."
The shouting continued for almost half a minute, forcing Irani to pause her speech. A video of the incident later went viral on social media.
The BJP and Congress often indulge in heated arguments over loan waivers. The BJP has persistently claimed that the loans haven't been waived off, while the Congress leaders had dropped bundles of documents at Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home
on Tuesday that mentioned names of nearly 21 lakh beneficiaries.
The Congress has also been sharing a list of beneficiaries, which include names of Chouhan's brother and cousin.
On the other hand, at Congress's Bhopal candidate Digvijaya Singh's roadshow, the crowd began chanting "Modi-Modi". The roadshow had taken place in old Bhopal city on Wednesday morning.
Later, the Kotwali police station lodged an FIR against these men under sections 147 and 188 of the IPC and section 127 of People's Representation Act 1951.
The Congress workers and the police had tried to catch hold of the men raising slogans but they had quickly disappeared in the crowd. The incident had taken place at Jain temple square in the Old city. The police have charged them with assembling and raising slogans without the prior permission of the administration during model election code is in force.