Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will make his first public appearance in two months on Saturday. He will meet a group of farmers at his official residence. The farmers are in the Capital to participate in the Congress’ rally on Sunday against amendments to the Land Acquisition Bill.
Senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jairam Ramesh are likely to accompany the farmers at the meeting. The group will consist of farmers from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The Congress is going all out to make the rally at Ramlila Maidan a success.
A meeting of AICC office-bearers assessed preparations for the rally on Friday. Though the party maintains that the rally is not a “comeback platform” for Rahul, it hopes its success will shift the focus from the party vice-president’s absence from the public sphere for about two months.
The party is also hoping that strong protests against the proposed Land Acquisition legislation will help it regain some of its lost clout among farmers. The Congress has been active in organising protests by various farmer groups at Jantar Mantar during the Budget session of Parliament.
The party’s own rallies at Jantar Mantar, however, were not successful as the focus was largely on Rahul’s absence.