At the culmination of his much-hyped farmers' rally - Kisan Mahapanchayat - Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the Mayawati government was not being sensitive towards the farmers of her state.
After his four-day padyatra (Walkathon), during which he covered over 70 km in over 30 villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Gandhi scion arrived at Aligarh to address the farmers' rally on Numaish grounds. Hours after waiting in the rain and the subsequent humidity for their new found hero, Gandhi arrived at the venue at 2 pm - three hours after the rally started.
Most of Gandhi's 15-minute speech at the venue repeated what he had been saying at the various villages he stopped at during his padyatra.
"Sometime back in Tappal, police fired at innocent farmers, who were only demanding their dues. Two months ago, again, the UP police fired and lathi charged innocent farmers in Bhatta Parsaul, who were only demanding that they be compensated justly for the land the state had acquired. I visited these villages and saw with my own eyes that there was nothing wrong in what the farmers are demanding. The UP government is just sensitive to their issues," Gandhi said.
Saying that the UP farmers were not against development projects, Gandhi said that the only reason the farmers protested was because they did not receive proper compensation.
"Every village I have been to, the villagers and farmers told me that they would gladly give the government their land provided they are given the right compensation. They are dissatisfied because their lands have been sold to builders to build colonies, race-courses and malls, which will be enjoyed by a select few. They are angry because they were forced to sell at rates much below the original market rates. They are angry because their land was being acquired at even lesser than half of what Noida farmers were paid. Finally, they are angry because bullets were fired upon them when they protested," Gandhi said.
While promising the farmers that the United Progressive Alliance government would try to introduce a better law in the Lok Sabha soon, Gandhi said he could, however, not promise the right implementation of the law.
"I will try to introduce a law that will benefit the farmers and will repeal the old law. Many farmers I met asked me why such an old law was still being followed. But even if a new law is introduced, till the government has good intent, it cannot be implemented. The present law is the same in both Haryana and UP. But UP farmers are complaining because they were not consulted. Our government in Haryana consulted the farmers before acquiring their land and offered them the right compensation. So they are happy," Gandhi said.
Gandhi criticised the people who mocked his rally. "Many people have said that I am just doing a political drama. But I believe that it is high time that politician came out and met these farmers. It is time that the aam aadmi is heard. What I have learnt in the past four days, I never learnt in the hours of discussions I had in New Delhi. You farmers are more knowledgeable about your lands than those so-called experts sitting in Delhi," Gandhi said.
Congress had announced that they would hold a farmers' rally in Bhatta Parsaul after the death of three farmers and two policemen in a violent clash. After the Mayawati government denied permission to the Congress to hold the rally in Bhatta Parsaul, the venue was shifted to Aligarh.
