Sharpening his attack on chief minister Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that “dalals” are running Uttar Pradesh and accused her government of resorting to land grab to help “big builders”.
“You are not together. Uttar Pradesh is divided and that is why dalals (brokers) are running the state,” Rahul said, addressing farmers in Kirpalpur village, as he continued to woo them on the third day of his padayatra to Aligarh for the Congress-backed “kisan mahapanchayat” on Saturday.
The AICC general secretary also promised that the Land Acquisition Bill to be brought before Parliament will be in favour of farmers.
Meeting groups of villagers at Kirpalpur, Jahangarh, and Kansera villages in Aligarh district to drive home his point how farmers were suffering after their land was “forcibly” acquired at cheap prices, he said the state’s land acquisition policy was “full of flaws”.
The land acqisition policies should be framed after talks with farmers and taking them into confidence, he said.
Rahul faced a security scare when a young man carrying a licensed revolver was detained while trying to move close to him in Tappal two hours after he resumed his footmarch at Sarole village in Aligarh district at 6.30 am.
The UP police however said there was no “blatant security breach” and that Harikrishna Sharma, nabbed by SPG personnel accompanying Rahul, is a “properly verified” resident of nearby Udaipur village.
Elaborating on his comments on UP being run by “dalals” Rahul said, “You may not like it. But this is true. Since you are not together that is why this is happening here. Unless you unite, you will continue to suffer. Unless you don’t understand what is happening, the train will not come on its track.”
Accusing the Mayawati government of committing “land grab in favour of builders” in UP, Rahul said, “We will present the Land Acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha and you will see that it will be passed in your favour.