VIJAYAWADA: The Congress party is gearing up for AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state in the last week of June or first week of July.
AP Youth Congress held an extended meeting here Sunday to discuss measures to mobilise party cadre for Rahul Gandhi’s visit and strengthen the organisation from grass root level in all the 13 districts of the state.
PCC vice-president S Sailajanath told mediamen that the present governments at both the Centre and state had adopted anti-farmer policies and were determined to snatch away lands from farmers at any cost. “The Congress had brought in a land acquisition law, which ensures that the farmers’ rights are protected and if the land has to be taken, he is more than adequately compensated. But, the Modi government brought in an ordinance to amend it, which is not in the interest of farmers. Our party is fighting tooth and nail in and out of the Parliament,” he claimed.
According to him, as part of his tour to different states to assure farmers to champion their cause and provide moral support, Rahul Gandhi will take up 15-km padayatra from Obula Devara Cheruvu to Nallamada in the drought-prone district of Anantapur. He will wind up his one-day tour of the state with a big public meeting. “The region in Anantapur has been particularly selected for padayatra, as for several years now, farmers there are facing drought and around 60 farmers have committed suicide in the last one year.”
When asked as to why he was not visiting the capital region, where farmers were facing problems with the government taking out their lands, he diverted the issue stating that the issue of Polavaram was also important and AICC president Sonia Gandhi would visit the region in a couple of months.
Finding fault with Chandrababu Naidu leasing out the lands in capital region to foreign companies, he doubted that people might have to pay fees to those companies for visiting the capital. “Have we not fought the similar colonial setup for 100 years before earning the freedom? It all started with similar agreements,” he alleged, wondering as to why Chandrababu had no confidence in the abilities of Telugu people who had time and again proven their mettle to the world.
