After Trek To The Hills, Rahul Gandhi Takes Train To Punjab

[timmy]

 

NEW DELHI:  Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi boarded a train at the New Delhi Railway station today to Gobindgarh, called the "grain bowl" of Punjab. He is visiting the state's mandis or grain markets, where farmers are struggling to sell their produce after the recent unseasonal rains.

"I've been told the condition of farmers is very bad. I want to see that myself," said Mr Gandhi at the railway station, wearing a T-shirt and a stubble. He took a seat near a window on the train and promised that his fight against the Narendra Modi government on its proposed land reforms is set to become "much bigger."

Angry farmers in Punjab have been sitting on railway tracks in protest against slow purchase. Several farmer suicides have also been reported in the state recently.

 

"This is a central issue; the land of farmers is taken away from them. This is wrong and I will combat it," the Congress leader said. He will also visit a mandi in Khanna, near Ludhiana.

The Akali Dal and the BJP, partners at the Centre and in ruling Punjab, have dismissed Mr Gandhi's visit as "political."

"Drama," said Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Akali Dal, adding, "They ruled for 10 years, there were several crisis, did anyone visit a mandi then?"

Since his return from a 56-day sabbatical abroad, Mr Gandhi has aggressively attacked the Centre, primarily on the plight of farmers in the country, both in Parliament and outside.

Later this week, he plans to set off on a country-wide padyatra, or walk, to protest against what he calls the Modi government's "anti-farmer policies."

At a rally in Delhi three days after his return, he drew a 70,000- strong crowd of farmers and vowed to stall the government's land acquisition bill, which makes acquiring land for industrial and key infrastructure projects easier.

The Congress is attempting to rebuild politically after it was demolished by the BJP in last year's national elections. Mr Gandhi's focus on farmers is seen as an attempt to consolidate the support of that 67 per cent of the country's population.