Cong rallies behind farmers

A day after the Congress took up the cause of farmers in UP, party leaders from Haryana descended here to do the same for ‘‘their&...

A day after the Congress took up the cause of farmers in UP, party leaders from Haryana descended here to do the same for ‘‘their’’ farmers.

A rally at the Ramlila grounds this morning drew a big crowd of farmers and party workers who raised slogans against Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala and his ‘‘anti-farmer’’ policies.

The farmers’ stir today united, at least for now, rival state Congress leaders. PCC chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda shared the dais with arch rival Bhajan Singh along with central leaders Arjun Singh, Balram Jhakar, and Salman Khurshid.

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Hooda said Haryana has gone to the dogs after voting Chautala to power. ‘‘The end to farmers’ miseries is nowhere in sight. Instead, the government has tightened the screws on them by levying additional taxes and surcharges.’’

The party demanded a CBI inquiry into last month’s Jind police firing that killed eight farmers. Later in the day, a Congress delegation handed over a memorandum to President K.R. Narayanan and demanded the government’s dismissal.

The party is unhappy with Chautala’s deal with Bharatiya Kisan Union over the farmers’ electricity dues. ‘‘He is the CM who earlier called BKU a bunch of criminals. We doubt if he would abide by the agreement,’’ he said.

Balram Jhakar’s solution was a statewide agitation by farmers and the people for the Chautala government’s ouster.