Rahul Gandhi to visit Punjab to take stock of poor wheat produce by farmers

The visit comes at a time when farmers in the region have accused the government of tardy wheat procurement. The state has also been witnessed suicides by farmers.

Rahul will be travelling by train and is scheduled to reach by the late afternoon, sources said.

The Congress Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Amarinder Singh, had threatened the Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal stage a dharna along with his party leaders outside the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to seek his attention on farmer suicide issue.

Singh, after visiting grain markets of Patiala and Khanna, had said, "If Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not giving time to Badal, he will better stage a dharna outside PMO instead of loitering around and issuing hollow threats to seek his attention."

Congress party has been alleging that the government is not purchasing the produce of farmers adequately.

The Congress Vice President had recently attacked the government, alleging that it was "ignoring" the farming community and favouring the industrialists and rich people.

The Congress Vice President also plans to undertake a ‘padyatra’ from Vidarbha in Maharashtra and Telangana, from the first week of May to connect with farmers.

Khanna grain market in Gobindgarh is considered one of the largest grain markets in Asia.

Speaking to reporters while boarding a train at New Delhi Railway Station, Gandhi said, "I have been told that the situation is very bad. So I want to see it with my own eyes.

"I am going to Punjab. I had also stated in my speech (in Parliament) that those who provide grains to the country, food to the country, from them their land is being snatched. This is wrong and we will counter it," the Congress leader said.