Rahul resumes footmarch in UP

Rampur Bangar (UP) July 6 (PTI) Rahul Gandhi resumed his
footmarch on Wednesday to make common cause with farmers in
the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over land acquisition
after an overnight halt at this village where he slept in the
open.
The 41-year-old All India Congress Committee (AICC)
general secretary is on the second day of his
padayatra--'Kisan Sandesh Yatra'-- in Western UP, a
footmarch billed as a campaign against Chief Minister Mayawati
ahead of the Congress' proposed 'kisan mahapanchayat' in the
neighbouring Aligarh district on July 9.
After trudging around 25 kms on foot in the dusty
tracks of rural areas on Tuesday covering five villages, Rahul
took a halt at Rampur Bangar village in Gautam Budh Nagar
district last night where he stayed at the house of former
village head Kalicharan Sharma. He also had dinner with the
Sharma family and preferred to sleep on a cot on the terrace.
The Congress leader resumed his yatra at 6.20 am and
visited Sabautajafrabad and Alawalpur villages.
"At both the places he held chaupal with the villagers
and enquired about their problems and issues," UPCC spokesman
Akhilesh Pratap Singh said.
Throwing a fresh challenge to Mayawati, Rahul
on Tuesday reached Bhatta-Parsaul for the second time to
kickstart his foot march nearly two months after his visit to
the twin villages, the epicentre of farmers' protests that had
led to his midnight arrest.
Addressing a chaupal(informal assembly) in one of the
villages, Rahul said the magnitude in which land was being
acquired in UP was not happening anywhere else in the country.
"It's ok if the land is being acquired for road. Roads
should be constructed and development must take place, but
here land is being taken for colony," he said.
He said that farmers, whose land is being acquired,
come to know when the process is already over.
"This is not being said by one person, but thousands.
People were killed in Bhatta Parsaul, but it was said that
nothing happened. People were killed in Tappal. Your voice
must be heard against the wrong doing," he said.
He said that the Indian government was bringing a bill
on the land acquisition and it would be done properly.
The Congress leader said the Uttar Pradesh Government
came up with a new policy on land acquisition after farmers
protested against acquiring land.
"But the new policy is not being used where it should
be," he told the villagers.
Rahul said when "rich people sell their lands in
Delhi, they get high market value. But, here land is being
taken forcibly from farmers. While the market rate is above Rs
1,000, you are getting only Rs 200."
He said the farmers, whose land is being acquired by
the Uttar Pradesh Government, are not aware why their
properties are being taken away.
"I have been asking the people why your land is being
taken away. They say that they are not aware...when somebody
commits robbery in bank, the police catches the culprit. But
here your land is being robbed and police are firing at you,"
he said.
He asked the farmers and people to share their stories
with him, saying he has come to them to hear their version of
the story. PTI RBL
ASR