Rahul walks the extra mile for Congress in up

The young MP has embarked on a three-day long foot march from Bhatta-Parsaul near Greater Noida to Agra against forcible land acquisition by the Mayawati government

Rahul walks the extra mile for Congress in up

The young MP has embarked on a three-day long foot march from Bhatta-Parsaul near Greater Noida to Agra against forcible land acquisition by the Mayawati government

Does this sound familiar? "My family is the victim of land grabbing. All for building a highway. I have lost all hopes to get my money back. But Rahul Gandhi visiting out village on foot will definitely draw the state government's attention to prepare roads in our village," said Rajbir Singh, who allegedly had eight bigha of land which was taken away at nominal rates to construct the Yamuna expressway. Political drama or not, Rahul Gandhi managed to strike a chord. 65-year-old Rajbir Singh could not believe that Rahul stayed at his house for four hours, but was very happy that he got a chance to host him.

Marching on: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on his padyatra at
Nangla Bhatauna village in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.u00a0
(Inset) Pushpendra cooked for Rahul. Pics/Mid Day

Simple fare
The Congress general secretary who travelled 15 kilometers from Parsaul village to Nangla Bhattauna, took six hours and finally rested at the residence of Rajbir. His two sons Dheeraj and Pushpendra were busy taking care of Rahul and his SPG security team. "As soon as Rahul came to our house he asked for food. He asked us to cook something simple so I made roti and moong-masoor dal with mango pickle. But he used his own bottle of mineral water. I had specially prepared butter milk for him. After having his food he said 'thank you' which was a reward for me," said Pushpendra. While resting at the house Rahul asked about the problems being faced by the villager and about how they were paid nominal amounts against their land.

Political game?
"Land is being acquired from here till Agra. I wanted to clearly understand what farmers feel about it and how do they view the new policy in place" said Rahul Gandhi referring to the Mayawati governments new land acquisition and rehabilitation polices brought recently in the aftermath of farmers agitation.

Gandhi had begun the day early, surprising state authorities by reaching Bhatta-Parsaul, about 60 km from national capital, at 6am despite being denied permission to hold a rally there.

Accompanied by about 60 state policemen, a sniffer dog squad, fire brigade and ambulance vehicles, besides the elite Special Protection Group (SPG), the Rahul cavalcade walked 12 km from the twin villages of Bhatta-Parsaul - the epicentre of a farmers' agitation against land acquisition by the state government - to reach Nangla Bhattauna by noon.

Rahul also visited Akhepur, Mirzapur, Rosa, Rustampur, Bhypur and Nagla-Hukum Singh villages. Rahul's visit to the area, a direct challenge to the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh ahead of elections next year, comes about two months after he was detained in Bhatta-Parsaul during a visit after the violence in May.

Rahul has halted for the night at Rampur village at the end of first day of his foot march (padyatra). The Congress MP, who reached Rampur in the evening, addressed a panchayat of villagers and interacted with farmers about issues facing them. He is scheduled to proceed to Jevar in Gautam Budh Nagar early morning on Wednesday.

Congress leaders said that Gandhi is staying at the house of a party worker. They said that Gandhi's march will culminate in kisan mahapanchayat being held by the party in Aligarh July 9. The party has decided to erect a "non-political" platform for farmers to speak about their problems at the rally, which will be addressed by Gandhi.