Lucknow: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi began his 2,500-km yatra in Uttar Pradesh from Rudrapur in Deoria, a district in eastern Uttar Pradesh that is steeped in backwardness. The yatra will end in Delhi later this month.
Mr Gandhi addressed a ‘Khat Sabha’ in Deoria and after the event, the farmers were seen scurrying away with the khats (cots) which left Mr Gandhi smiling in amusement.
The farmers walked off with over 5,000 cots made of wood and jute but left behind the iron ones since they were apparently too heavy to be carried away. Mr Gandhi sought blessings at the Baba Dugdheshwarnath temple and then started his Kisan Yatra from Deoria.
Rahul takes mobile numbers of farmers
The yatra, which will pass through 236 Vidhan Sabha constituencies and 55 districts, started with Mr Gandhi going from door to door in Pachladi Kritpura village, asking villagers to fill up the Kisan Mangpatra (charter of demands) which includes loan waiver and slicing of electricity rates by 50 per cent. He said that the Kisan Mangpatra would be given to the Modi government so that it could understand the problems of farmers.
Mr Gandhi, who was accompanied by AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, spoke to farmers, listened to their problems and even took down their mobile numbers. He also visited the home of a Dalit in Kanchanpur village and stopped by for a bhutta.
“He asked us about our families, spoke to our children, asked them about their studies and what they wanted to do in the future. This was the first time that a leader had interacted with us at a personal level,” said Rameshwar Pandey, a local farmer.
