Noida:
It was another pre-dawn raid by Rahul Gandhi. Like his first visit to Greater Noida, this morning too, he entered the twin villages of Bhatta-Parsaul at 6 am. In a repeat performance of his May visit, he managed to sneak past the heavy security placed in this sensitive zone by the UP government.
The Congress General Secretary sat on the
charpai talking to farmers and their wives, at one point comfortably holding a young child who sat in school uniform in his lap.
He was here, he said, to find out what farmers really think about their land being acquired by the Mayawati government for both public projects and commercial development.
"I had come to Bhatta a few days ago when the police were causing trouble here. What happened here, nobody else came to know about it. This is the truth. I thought I should clearly understand the land acquisition that is an issue from here all the way upto Agra. And I wanted to know your thoughts about it," he said.
If Mr Gandhi has his way, this will have been the first pit stop on a yatra or journey all along the Yamuna Expressway - which has become the icon of the dispute between farmers and the government over development in the region.
The resentment of the farmers erupted into a riot of sorts on a weekend in early May. In clashes between farmers and the police, four people were killed in Bhatta-Parsaul. Mr Gandhi had arrived at 4.30 am on a motorcycle, and spent a day talking to villagers, before Mayawati had him arrested and then escorted back into Delhi.
(Read & Watch: Rahul Gandhi arrested, released on bail in midnight drama) After that, she revised her government's land acquisition policy, promising farmers fairer terms in the future.
(Read: Mayawati counters Rahul Gandhi with new land policy)Mr Gandhi did not emerge unscathed either. He alleged that women had been raped during the riot by policemen - inquiries conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said they did not find any evidence of this.
The Yamuna Expressway, 165 km long and meant to connect Greater Noida to Agra with a two-hour drive, is not unanimously opposed. At Nangal Bhatauna, for example, where Mr Gandhi spent nearly six hours, villagers say they welcome the chance to sell their land. The construction, they told him, has pushed land prices up. And they will be able to earn far more from surrendering their land than from farming it.
That influenced Mr Gandhi to offer a gentler assessment than his first trip of Mayawati's policies. "I have not come across anyone who does not want to give land for development," he said, but "they want justice."
Mr Gandhi plans - if Mayawati doesn't interrupt - from arriving at Aligarh before a critical maha-panchayat on Saturday - where senior farmers will exchange their views on land acquisition.
At Rustampur, seven kilometres away from Bhatta-Parsaul, farmers say they are being coerced to give their land to the government. Often, they say, a part of their land is transferred to real estate developers who want to set up malls or apartment complexes - the government makes a profit, so do the developers, but farmers have none of the upside.
A fact acknowledged by the Supreme Court today which is deciding whether land acquired by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority cheated farmers. A petition in the court argues that the land was bought from farmers at rates suitable for industrial development but was then given to real estate companies for residential projects, swindling farmers of a better deal.
"The state is taking advantage of this law and driving the farmers out of the village. This is a sinister campaign," said the Supreme Court. "What do farmers get? Lathis and litigations? Men are arrested and women are raped," the judges said - comments that will boost Mr Gandhi's campaign. (
Read: Supreme Court to UP Govt - Sinister campaign to grab land)