Protesting farmers fighting for country, just like soldiers do on borders: Rahul Gandhi

Aurangabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that the protesting farmers are fighting for the country, just like soldiers do on the borders.

Gandhi was referring to the 'Dilli Chalo' protest march by farmers to put pressure on the Centre for their demands, including a law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.

“The protesting farmers are fighting for our nation, just like the soldiers do on the borders,” Gandhi said, addressing a rally in Aurangabad district.

The Congress MP also alleged the RSS and BJP “have set Manipur on fire” and that they “pit one community against another”. The northeastern state has been rocked by ethnic strife since May last year.

Criticising the Narendra Modi-led central government, Gandhi claimed that it waived loans of the “super rich worth Rs 14 lakh crore, while the expenditure on MGNREGA is only Rs 70,000 crore.”

He also took a dig at the Union government for the presence of a large number of celebrities at the consecration ceremony of Ayodhya’s Ram temple, while “poor people were conspicuous by their absence” at the event.