Four days before his kisan mahapanchayat, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi sprung a surprise on the Mayawati government when he embarked on a padyatra in Greater Noida. Mr Gandhi reached Bhatta Parsaul village at 6.30 am on Tuesday to meet the farmers.
Sources said that Mr Gandhi will continue his padyatra for the next two days as well.
In Bhatta Parsaul, Mr Gandhi told farmers, “The outside world was not aware of what happened here. I thought that I should understand this properly. Whatever is happening from here till Agra, I want to understand. I have started this yatra from Bhatta and will try to understand by visiting villages where land is being acquired. The new policy made by the UP government — whether it should be applicable on you or not — is my main concern.”
The Congress MP also told reporters that he will raise issues troubling farmers during his march in Uttar Pradesh. He alleged that the state police was committing excesses on farmers.
The state government had earlier denied permission to the Congress to hold the kisan mahapanchayat in these twin villages that had been the epicentre of farmer’s protests in May. The venue for the kisan mahapanchayat has now been shifted to Aligarh.
Mr Gandhi, who has been trying to drum up anti-Mayawati sentiments on the issue of land acquisition policy, began his road journey on Tuesday and stopped by at nearly half-a-dozen villages in Greater Noida, including Khera, Rustampur, Bhaipur, Acheypur, Bayanatpur and Nagla Bhatauni villages, where he patiently heard the grievances of the villagers.
At Bhatta Parsaul, he was given a warm welcome and Mr Gandhi seemed very comfortable with the local people, many of whom had met him during his one-day dharna on May 11 that wound up with his subsequent arrest.