Devaka village (Uttar Pradesh), July 8 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who will complete the last stretch of his padyatra today, has said that he has learnt more from the farmers than the time he has spent as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha.
Interacting with farmers at Devaka village, Gandhi said: "When we sit in Delhi or Lucknow, we don't get to know ground realities. I have not learnt as much in Lok Sabha as I learnt from you."
Gandhi's padyatra will culminate in a maha-panchayat at Aligarh on Saturday adter four days.
Nearly two months after he was whisked away by Uttar Pradesh police officials for joining a farmers' protest, Gandhi has dared the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regime again by undertaking a four-day march to a Congress-organised kisan maha panchayat in Aligarh to get a feel of the heartland's simmering land problems.
The Congress had planned the kisan mahapanchayat at Bhatta- Parsaul, where two villagers had died in police firing, but was forced to shift the venue to Aligarh's exhibition grounds following pressure from the state government.
On Thursday, he began his padyatra from Sarole village in the District at 6.30 a.m. and walked about 7 km to reach Kirpalpur. He spent the night at a farmer's place in Maror-Garhi village.
On Wednesday, Gandhi resumed his yatra at 6:30 a.m. By 7 p.m., he had covered five villages. In the afternoon he rested at a farmer's home. Then, it was back to the road.
On Tuesday at 6.15 a.m., Gandhi, accompanied by just three SPG, reached Bhatta village, the epicentre of farmers' protest against land acquisition, in his vehicle.
He met villagers briefly at the same dharna spot where he had earlier held a panchayat on May 11.
From there, he proceeded on foot through villages of Parsaul, Acchepur, Mirzapur, Kheda Waipur and also stopped briefly at Rustampur.
Meanwhile, Mayawati Government has denied permission to Rahul Gandhi to hold a rally in Bhatta Parsaul.
The Congress is establishing contact with farmers' groups in and around the region where acquisition of land has been a major source of confrontation between them and the police (ANI)
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