THE BJP has demanded that the Centre demonstrate that it was serious about ameliorating the condition of farmers by preparing a ten-year action plan for the revival of the sector. The BJP has promised that it would reduce the interest rate for loans to the farm sector to 4%, given a chance. The BJP leadership has questioned the Congress-led UPA government's commitment to improving the lot of farmers and the condition of the sector in a series of rallies over the weekend in Haryana. Both NDA prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and party president Rajnath Singh sought to present the BJP as the party of choice of the farmers. Mr Singh has asked the Congress-led government to call a special session of Parliament to discuss the tenyear plan to revive the agriculture sector. The BJP leaders sought to remind that it was the National Democratic Alliance government that reduced interest rates for agricultural loans from 18% to 8.5%. The BJP reiterated its promise that should the NDA be voted into power, it would bring down interest rate for the farm sector to 4%. The BJP also reiterated that it would provide zero per cent interest for the first year of loan. The BJP has been critical of the farm loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore announced in the budget. The party has described the scheme as impractical and of little use to farmers who own land in the 100 most drought prone districts of the country. The BJP has consistently maintained that in dry areas like Vidarbha, farmers own more than 3 hactares of un-irrigated land. Moreover, large section of farmers, according to the Radhakrishna committee, take credit from private sources. According to the BJP leaders, the loan waiver is meaningless for these farmers. The main Opposition has accused the Congress for the abysmal condition of farmers and the farm sector. The party leaders have said that the loan waiver scheme is the Congress' effort to woo the farmers for political gains. Mr Singh said that UPA announcement had failed to address grass root problems of the agriculture sector : .: Rajnath cuts down poll panel size New Delhi: Realising that his decision to form a large, 19-member panel to finalise his party's strategy for the coming round of electoral battles was not really working, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday shortened the list to set up a sevenmember core committee to prepare his party's roadmap. Mr Singh, at the same time, named prabharis' (in-charge) for steering the party's preparations in the next round of assembly polls. The BJP president rewarded his party colleague Arun Jaitley, who had shepherded the saffron outfit's march towards the No 1 position in Karnataka in the 2004 assembly polls, by anointing him as the 'prabhari' for the state once again.