Rahul meets farmers before Sunday Kisan rally

Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: After  57-day sabbatical Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi made his first public appearance, meeting with farmers’ delegations ahead of Sunday’s “Kisan Khet Mazdoor” rally in Delhi. Six groups of farmers’ delegation from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh attended the meeting on Rahul Gandhi Tughlak lane residence today morning. Five farmers are from each states in the delegation.The delegation included farmers from Bhatta Parsaul village from where Rahul had launched a “padyatra” in 2011 against forcible land acquisition of farmers, a protest that had culminated in passage of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
According to farmers Rahul assured them Congress will fight with Narendra Modi government from road to parliament. Rahul told them that no one can pass the land land acquisition bill in parliament.
Today’s meeting was also expected to be an exploratory exercise regarding the problems farmers are facing – the key one being the crop loss in nine states following the unseasonal rains in March and April.”The farmers are facing a grave situation. We hope he raises voice for us,” said some of the delegates of the meeting.
“Tomorrow’s rally would be a historic rally. Lakhs of farmers from across the country will get together in Delhi and we want to expose this BJP government for the way farmers have been duped only to pay back favours of some people. The BJP is ‘conspiring’ to take over the land of small farmers,” Sachin Pilot said.”They are playing with people’s lives… People are getting cheques of Rs. 650 and Rs. 750 (as compensation for land),” said senior party leader Pilot.