UP Congress plans to connect with 2.72 cr farmers  

Without much fanfare, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh has launched its 'Kisan Jan Jagran Yatra' with the target of connecting with 2.72 crore farmers.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) President Ajay Kumar Lallu said that the party would connect with 55 lakh families during the Yatra and every fifth farmer family would be a part of the campaign.

He said that 25,000 Congress workers would visit the rural interiors during the 40-day long Yatra which will be later joined by the party's General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

"We will be holding more than 12,000 'nukkad sabha' (small meetings), 900 press conferences and 800 demonstrations against the state government on issues related to farmers and their problems," he told IANS.

Lallu further said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had conveniently turned a blind eye to the problems of farmers in Uttar Pradesh after making false promises during the elections.

"Stray cattle are destroying the crops, the hike in power turfs has had an adverse impact on farmers and the loan waiver scheme announced by the chief minister has proved to be inadequate. Cane farmers have not yet got their arrears and the state government has not increased the minimum support price (MSP) of cane," he said.

The UPCC chief said that farmers had been severely hit by inclement weather and compensation has not been given to majority of the farmers.

During the Yatra, the Congress will get the farmers to fill up the "Kisan Patra" listing their demands, which will be handed over to the state government.

"We have set a target of meeting 300 farmers every day at the block and village level. A total of 2.5 lakh farmers will be connected with Congress workers every day," he said.

The 'Kisan Jagran Yatra' is designed to carry forward the 'Khat Sabha' campaign started by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2016 in Uttar Pradesh.

The party in the second phase will direct its legislators and MPs to launch a 'Sarkar jagao, Kisan bachao' campaign by holding meetings in all districts.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhana Misra said that the condition of farmers had worsened during the BJP regime. She alleged that even the BJP legislators and MPs were showing no concern for the

"The BJP had promised to double the income of farmers but in reality, their income has gone down. Farmers are being driven to suicide in Uttar Pradesh," she said.

The CLP leader further said that the Congress government in Rajasthan had waived off farmers' loans whereas in Chhattisgarh, the power rates had been halved.-IANS