Congress hopes for revival of fortunes through land bill

At a time of huge electoral defeats and discomfort over its top leaders' sabbatical, the Congress party foresees its revival by backing farmers and opposing NDA government's controversial Land Bill.

The party has announced to hold a massive Kisan rally of 4-5 lakh people at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds on Sunday, April 19, which may also kick start its national protest against the Land Bill. Senior party leaders, state union chiefs and MLAs' will attend the rally.

[Opposition determined to defeat land bill: Sonia Gandhi]

Beleaguered Congress is planning to transform the rally into a mega event, hoping to exploit the strong sentiments of farmers against the government over the issue. [Congress's Kisan rally to be Rahul Gandhi's comeback platform?]

In what could give an end to a month long suspense, party sources said that, it could also be the first public appearance of Rahul Gandhi after 'leave'.

While touring her Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are all right and will interact with the media soon. [Gadkari accuses Sonia Gandhi of 'misleading' people about the Bill]

The party which has done extremely well in previous elections, by introducing 'pro-poor' schemes including loan waiver, NREGA and food security, Congress workers believe that the present political situation is the right time to bring back its lost popularity.

They believe that the timing of the rally, just a day before resumption of the budget session of Parliament, will send out a clear message to the public that the party is not ready for any compromises as far as farmers' rights are concerned.

Sonia is also expected to meet farmers of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, who suffered losses due to unseasonal rains.