Rahul back to work; meets farmers in Delhi

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 18

In his first public appearance since he ended his 53-day sabbatical on Thursday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today took control of the party's anti-land ordinance movement and met over 600 farmers and farm labourers to listen to their problems.

(See video: Rahul Gandhi meets farmers)

Stepping out of his heavily-guarded 12 Tuglaq Lane residence, where the farmers had lined up to see him, Rahul made direct contact with his guests and assured them of Congress' support for the cause. He moved from group to group amid chants of "Kisan neta Rahul Gandhi", "Kisanon ke hitaishi Rahul Gandhi". Farmers also carried posters bearing Rahul's photos, which Congress's communications unit had readied for publicity and impact.

Among farmers who visited Rahul were those from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western UP, where the impact of BJP's land ordinance and recent untimely rains has been most pronounced.

Haryana had the largest entry to the meeting today with former state CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, incumbent state chief Ashok Tanwar and CLP leader Kiran Choudhry arranging 100 visitors each to meet Rahul in the run-up to tomorrow's national farmer's rally of the party at the Ram Lila grounds.

Present alongside Rahul at farmers’ meeting today were top Congress general secretaries in-charge of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and UP, namely PC Chacko, Gurdas Kamat, Shakeel Ahmad and Madhusudan Mistry. Also flanking him were Congress media unit head Randeep Surjewala, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kiran Choudhry and Ashok Tanwar.

Today's meeting is a precursor to the future in which the Congress will get Rahul to lead the farmers movement around BJP government's alleged anti-farmer policies. Even today many farmers brought with them specimens of crops damaged by recent rains, urging Rahul to seek enhanced compensation on their behalf.