Mega farmers' rally in Delhi on November 30

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be among the top Opposition leaders who will put forward their proposals on how their parties would address agrarian distress and issues plaguing the farming community, if voted to power in 2019, at a mega farmers’ rally in the capital on November 30. All the political parties opposed to the BJP have been invited by the organisers of the November 29-30 farmers’ rally to announce promises they intend to make to save agriculture in their manifestoes for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, All India Kisan Mahasabha general secretary Hannan Mollah told this newspaper.

The AIKS, along with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and All India Agricultural Workers Union, are the main organisers of the event. Mr Mollah said invitations have been sent to all political parties except the BJP. “We have asked parties to only send their top leaders, whose words carry weight,” he added.

AIKS sources said that on November 29, four separate groups will march to the Ramlila Maidan from Delhi’s Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar, Majnu Ka Tila and Bijwasan areas. On November 30, there will be a march to Parliament House under the banner of “Nation for Farmers”, in which besides nearly one lakh farmers, ex-servicemen and youth organisations are also likely to participate. The chief demand would be that the NDA government call a special session of Parliament to address farmers’ issues.

A senior AIKS office-bearer said: “On November 30 we will have two separate sessions in Parliament Street. In the morning, we will have farmers’ leaders from across the country speak about the crisis facing the agricultural community, and in the afternoon we will have a political session, where leaders would put forward their proposals on how their parties will handle this issue if voted to power. It is this special session for political parties in which the Congress president will be speaking.”

Mr Gandhi’s participation comes amid efforts by the Congress to make agrarian distress a major poll plank ahead of 2019. The party has been using farmers’ issues  to target the BJP in the ongoing Assembly elections too.

In fact, the Congress manifesto for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has focused mainly on the farm crisis, where it has promised to write off loans and implement a number of other welfare measures, including enhancing the minimum support price for crops in line with the key recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.