File Photo: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi arrives at Parliament during the Budget session, in New Delhi. (Press Trust of India)
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will undertake a 15-km day-long padyatra in Amravati division of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra on April 30, for highlighting the farmers' woes.
"Gandhi who will arrive in Nagpur tomorrow evening, will go to Amaravati the next morning to embark on the day-long padyatra," Mahrashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Ashok Chavan said in today.
Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and the Amravati division in Vidharabha region has witnessed 295 farmers' suicides this year, he said.
"Gandhi will travel about 175 kms, out of which he will walk 15 km through villages of Gunji, Shahapur in Dhamangaon railway tehsil and Rajhna, Tonglabad in Chandur railway tehsil; which have seen highest number of suicides," he said.
"Since January, the state has witnessed suicides of 1,200 farmers and the highest being Amravati division with 295 followed by 215 in Aurangabad," Mr Chavan, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Nanded said.
"However, the state government has informed the Centre that only three farmers had committed suicide and even Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in Lok Sabha that he does not believe in the state government figures," he added.
The MPCC chief said Mr Gandhi will interact with farmers and families of those who committed suicide and discuss the agrarian crisis with them and also ways to help them tide over the problem.
"The programme is chalked out for one-on-one interaction between the affected farmers and Gandhi as well as a mass contact programme," he said rejecting the charges that the erstwhile Congress governments in the state as well as the Centre had done nothing for the farmers because of which they are facing such a situation.