Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi early on Wednesday visited the Bhatta Parsaul village in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida that has seen violence by farmers over land acquisition, leading to four deaths. According to a state Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi reached the village at 6 00 AM.
And is still in the village meeting protesting farmers. He left his vehicle on the main road and then travelled on a motorbike to reach the village. "He reached the village early morning to avoid being stopped by state police. He met agitating farmers and gave a patient hearing to their problems. He visited the houses of some farmers and conversed with women and youths," he told IANS.
With the state going for elections in 2012, the Congress is making all efforts to reach out to the masses and farmers have a substantial vote bank in Uttar Pradesh. While chief minister Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have criticised the agitation, saying it is "based on misinformation and politically motivated", opposition parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress — have extended support to affected farmers. Police have imposed prohibitory orders, banning the assembly of more than five people and restricting media entry.
Former chief minister Rajnath Singh and several other BJP leaders were arrested on Monday in Greater Noida while proceeding to the agitation spot. SP leader and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has also declared his party's support to the agitating farmers. Several SP leaders have courted arrest in the past four days. The Police and agitating farmers in Greater Noida, which falls in Gautam Budh Nagar district, fought a pitched battle on Saturday in which four people, including two policemen, were killed.
The farmers are agitating for higher compensation for land taken for constructing the 156-km Yamuna Expressway that is to link New Delhi with Agra and reduce travel time by an hour. On Friday, angry farmers in Bhatta Parsaul village had held captive employees of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. When security personnel arrived to free the officials held hostage, the farmers clashed with them, resulting in the deaths on Saturday. Fifteen people were also critically injured in the clashes.