Rahul Gandhi begins his 'padyatra' in Vidarbha

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday began a 15-km 'padyatra' in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra where he will meet the families of farmers who committed suicide after their crops failed.

Gandhi reached Nagpur on Wednesday night and left eaarly Thursday morning for Gunj village, approximately 50 km from Amravati town, to begin the foot march.

He was greeted by people who had lined either side of the road on his way to Gunj village. He spoke to some of them and tried to get an insight on their problems and the issues affecting them.

Gandhi will visit five villages and meet the farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rain. He is accompanied by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan, said a party official.

Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and Amravati division of the Vidarbha region has witnessed many farmer suicides this year.