New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will meet farmers from Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi on Saturday morning, ahead of the “kisan-khet mazdoor” rally on Sunday.
Mr Gandhi will meet them at his Tughlak Lane residence, AICC communications department in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters. Mr Gandhi, who was on a sabbatical for nearly two months, will interact with the farmers in groups. This will be his first engagement after his return.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had earlier met farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in Rajasthan, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, and had sought compensation from the government for the crop damage they suffered.
The farmers’ delegation that will meet Mr Gandhi will include those from Bhatta Parsaul village, from where Rahul had started a padayatra in 2011 against forcible land acquisitions, a protest that had culminated in the passage of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013.
Sunday’s “kisan-khet mazdoor” rally at Delhi’s historic Ramlila Maidan will be the Congress’ first major meeting after its defeats in last year’s Lok Sabha elections and the Delhi Assembly polls earlier this year. The rally is being seen as a sort of a comeback announcement of Rahul and a show of strength by the party, which has been strongly opposing changes in the original Act.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday hold a meeting of the AICC secretaries to review preparation for the rally.
