Rahul Gandhi begins sanvad padyatra; meets Maharashtra farmers

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today began a 15-km day-long padyatra in Amravati district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, during which he is meeting the families of farmers who committed suicide.

Gandhi, who reached Nagpur last night, left this morning for village Gunji to begin the foot march dubbed as 'sanvad padyatra'.

On the way to Gunji, people were seen lined up on roads at Kondhali and Talegaon villages to greet the Congress leader. Gandhi stopped at Talegaon for some time, before proceeding to Gunji.

Gandhi spoke to the people who greeted him and sought to know their problems and the issues affecting them.

He will be visiting five villages between Gunji to Ramgaon and will meet the farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rain. He is accompanied by MPCC president Ashok Chavan and senior state Congress leaders.

Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and Amravati division in Vidarbha region has witnessed many suicide cases of farmers this year.

Ahead of his visit, a farmer, Gajanan Sheshrao Khongal, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in Morshi tehsil of the district on Tuesday.