After the Kisan rally, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will now take out a Kisan padyatra to reach out to farmers in the backdrop of the agrarian crisis.
While the Congress is seeking to make land acquisition a major issue to arrest its sliding fortunes, Gandhi’s major public outreach plan is aimed at galvanising the party cadres and broadening the party base among farming communities.
Party sources said the
Gandhi will be visiting a number of districts with farmer distress in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana.
In Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi could travel to Bundelkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
While the Congress Vice-President had in past also taken up the issue of Bundelkhand ensuring a package for the region during the UPA government’s region, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, another region of farmer distress is bordering Bihar where polls are scheduled later this year.
When contacted, AICC Communication Department in-charge Randeep Surjewala said, “Rahul ji will be taking Kisan Padyatra in days to come. He is going to visit all States, which have recorded farmer distress. Details of his programme are yet to be finalised.”
Gandhi’s march is being seen as an exercise to connect the party with grassroots at a time when it faces an uphill task of revival after its worst-ever debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which its tally came down to a drastic 44 from 206 it had got in the 2009 general elections.
It’s woes did not end there as the defeat in Lok Sabha polls was followed in by a series of defeats in state elections.