Rahul Gandhi's Kisan Yatra will end with a rally in Delhi

After much consternation and deliberations, the Congress has finally zeroed in on Delhi for the grand finale of the Kisan Yatra. Earlier the yatra was scheduled to culminate in Ghaziabad or Noida which are in Uttar Pradesh. However, now it will come to an end on Thursday at Sansad Marg in New Delhi. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had embarked upon a Deoria to Delhi Kisan Yatra on September 6.

The entire machinery of the Congress has swung into action to make the programme a success. The Delhi Congress, Haryana Congress, Punjab Congress and the frontal organisations of the party have been asked to activate their cadres. The Congress is hoping for a huge gathering of farmers to build pressure on the government. A meeting chaired by general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad was held to chalk out the contours of the programme.

Sources say that Mr Gandhi will be driving in straight from Meerut to Delhi. He will be halting in between and meeting people. Once in Delhi, he will head for Gandhi Samadhi at Rajghat and then to Gandhi Smriti at Tees January Marg where Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead. He will go to Bhairon Mandir near Pragati Maidan and then to Sansad Marg where the programme will culminate.

The Congress has been engaged in a high-octane campaign in poll-bound UP for almost a month. The focus of the Yatra, which covered the entire state, was on farmers and the big-ticket promise of waiving off all farmer loans. The Congress feels that the Yatra has got a lot of traction, but the big challenge before the Congress is to convert this first mover advantage into votes.

In the last two Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, we have seen that programmes of Mr Gandhi certainly do have traction but after the event finishes the Congress has very little converting power. But he Congress strategists feel that this time it is going to be different as they have bouquet of arsenals in store till the actual polling day.