After Punjab, Rahul Gandhi to hold tractor rallies in Haryana

New Delhi, Oct 05: After Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Haryana on Tuesday to hold a 2-day tractor rally against the recently enacted agriculture laws.

Gandhi will hold the rallies in Kurukshetra and Karnal districts of the state, party leaders said.

The Congress leader, who arrived in Punjab on Sunday for a three-day visit to lead a series of tractor rallies against the Centre''s farm laws, will on October 6 lead a tractor rally which will enter Haryana, they said.

Congress'' Haryana unit held a meeting of party MLAs and senior leaders in Delhi to take stock of the preparations in connection with Gandhi's visit to the state.

Haryana Congress in-charge Vivek Bansal, state Congress president Kumari Selja, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and senior leaders Kiran Choudhary and Ajay Singh Yadav were also present in the meeting.

"His (Rahul Gandhi) visit will prove to be a milestone in the battle of farmers. On October 6 and 7, Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day visit to Haryana. On the first day, his rally will enter Pehowa in Haryana from Punjab border. In Pehowa, he will address the people," Selja said.

"After this, Rahul Gandhi will go to Kurukshetra and halt there for the night. His journey will start from Pipli Mandi next morning from where he will proceed to Nilokheri and after that he will go to Karnal, where the tractor rally will culminate," she said.

Selja said Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have been raising the issues of farmers, workers and common people.

"Just as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra went to Hathras on Saturday and shared the grief and pain of the Dalit family, in the same way, he will come to the state to share the pain of farmers because the government does not have time to understand and discuss their sufferings," she said.

Hooda said the new farm laws were not in the interest of farmers.

"Rahul Gandhi is coming to Haryana to protest against these black laws," the former chief minister said.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said, "We have not received any intimation about his (Rahul''s) programme so far."

The remarks come after Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij earlier said the Congress leader's tractor rally will not be given permission to enter the state.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Karnal, the CM hailed the three farm laws as a "game changer".

"Farmers are going to benefit in a big way," he said.

Accusing the Congress of misleading farmers on the laws, Khattar said paddy and other crop procurement at minimum support price (MSP) was being smoothly done across the state.

"On the Citizenship Amendment Act and revoking of Article 370 and so many other issues, the Congress tired to mislead the people. But people soon realised that these steps were taken for their larger benefit keeping the country''s interests above all. Similarly, farmers have started realising that Congress is trying to use their shoulder to further their own interests," he said.

Speaking in Sirsa, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said, "Rahul Gandhi does not understand the basics of agriculture and now he wants to hold protests on these three laws."

"If journalists confront him and ask him about the three laws, he will not be able to tell about their benefits or losses. So, Congress is only doing politics over the issue and nothing else.

"It was during the Congress-led UPA regime that a five-member committee of chief ministers gave a report on open market access. Now, they are opposing the reforms brought by the Centre," Chautala said.

He added that the central and state governments have taken many "historic decisions" in the interest of farmers and the work to double the farmers'' income was being done earnestly.