Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said farmers are India’s strength and many problems of the country could be solved “if we listen to them and understand their point of view”.
He also quipped saying that he doesn’t have a house, and that the government took it away, when asked by the women about his whereabouts.
The 12-minute video shows Gandhi’s visit to a paddy field in Madina village of Haryana’s Sonepat on July 8, where he is seen having a conversation with farmers and their families, ploughing the fields, planting paddy saplings and later breaking bread with the farmers on a string cot.
“Farmers are the strength of India,” he tweeted in Hindi, sharing a short clip from the video. “In Sonepat, Haryana, I met two farmers — Sanjay Malik and Tasbir Kumar. They are childhood best friends and have been farming together for many years.”
“Together with them, we helped in the fields, sowed paddy, drove a tractor, and discussed many things. The women farmers of the village gave us love and respect like their own family members, and brought homemade food.
“The farmers of India are honest and sensible – they know their hard work and also recognise their rights. When needed, they stand firm against black laws and also raise their right for demands of MSP and insurance. If we listen to them, understand their point of view, many problems of the country can be solved,” Gandhi added.
While he is having the conversation, a woman asked him, “You have been asking about us, tell us about yourself.”
To this, the 53-year-old leader replied saying, “I am from Delhi.” When they tell him to show them around Delhi and his house, the Congress leader said, “I do not have a house, the government took it.”
Following his conviction in a criminal defamation case, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP from the Wayanad seat in Kerala. He also vacated his government bungalow at 12, Tughlaq Lane in New Delhi in April after he was disqualified from Parliament.