Cong's farmer rally to cash in on Budget

The Congress, the largest constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, is gearing up to capitalise on the Rs 60,000-crore loan waiver scheme for the country's estimated 40 million indebted farmers.

The party is organising a farmers' rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on March 9 that will be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Senior party functionaries here said lakhs of farmers were expected to participate in the "Dhanyavaad Abhinandan Rally".

In the election year, the Congress is trying to woo farmers and is hoping that the rally provides a platform to send the Budget's pro-rural message to the voters.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said around 100,000 farmers would take part from UP alone.

"Since the Budget has been historic in terms of allocation for farmers, the rally has to be a historic one too," she said.

"The loan waiver scheme will benefit UP the most because of the large number of farmers in the state," she added.

The UPCC has drawn a plan to electorally benefit from the Budget. The party is already running a "Hisab Maango Abhiyaan" to corner the BSP-led state government for its alleged failure in implementing central schemes.