Hardik Patel, convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) during a press conference, in New Delhi on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. (Press Trust of India photo)
Hardik Patel, the young leader of the newly-formed Akhil Bharatiya Patel Navnirman Sena, said in New Delhi today that loans taken by debt-ridden farmers across the country should be waived off.
"I pay obeisance to all the farmers of the country. They are committing suicide, they are debt ridden," Mr Patel said while paying homage to late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his birth anniversary.
"Farmers across the country need to unite and the loans taken by them must be waived off completely," he said.
He urged farmers to take a pledge that they would not commit suicide, but fight for their rights.