The Congress rally is being held at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
After Anna Hazare's two-day agitation in the heart of the capital, the Congress took its protest against the Modi government's land acquisition ordinance to Delhi's streets in a mega rally.
The Congress is calling its rally, being held at Jantar Mantar where Anna held his protest, the 'Zameen Wapsi Andolan' (return land campaign). Senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid will lead the protest against what the main opposition party calls the BJP government's "draconian ordinance that intends to change the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 passed by the Congress government."
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi set the tone for the party's tough stand at a strategy meeting in Parliament House on Tuesday and the Congress has said its opposition to the BJP's ordinance is non-negotiable.
It has the support on this of other opposition parties against the ruling BJP, which has also been cautioned by its own allies like the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal that it risks being branded "anti-farmer" by pushing for the changes it wants in the law to acquire land for big projects.
Faced with the political backlash and also loath to cancel its ordinance, seen as crucial to sending the right signals on reforms and ease of doing business in India to investors, the Narendra Modi government is now engaged in consultations with farmers to gather their suggestions on what changes can be made to its proposals to allay their fears.
The government tabled the land acquisition bill in the Lok Sabha yesterday, amid loud protests from the opposition; the Congress walked out. The bill will sail through the Lok Sabha where the government has a brute majority, but will get stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.
The government's strategists hope that they can use the time afforded to them by the debate on the President's address today and the presentation of the rail and union budgets in the next few days to work out some support in the Rajya Sabha.
The government has to get Parliament's approval for eight ordinances or emergency executive orders or they will lapse.