The state unit of the Congress organised a massive rally in Hazaribagh on Saturday, its second after one in Santhal Pargana recently, for expressing solidarity with the agitating farmers and demanding withdrawal of the three farm laws that they described as “anti-farmer”.

A large number of party supporters and farmers, estimated to be around 20 thousand, gathered from various districts at the local Motwari Gandhi Maidan where the farmers’ rally was held.

Responding to the appeals of the Congress state unit president and finance minister Rameshwar Oraon and state agriculture minister Badal Patralekh, the party supporters and farmers led by the MLAs of their respective areas, reached Hazaribagh with tractors and even bullock carts in large numbers.

R.P.N. Singh, the Congress leader in charge of the party’s state unit, also reached Hazaribagh to address the rally.

“These laws have invited criticism from across the world, exposing BJP that has surrendered itself to the corporate friends of its leaders,” Singh told at Ranchi airport before leaving for Hazaribagh.

Besides Oraon and Patralekh, ministers Alamgir Alam and Banna Gupta also attended the rally as did Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahoo, MP Geeta Koda and a host of other MLAs.

“These farm laws have pushed the farmers into immense troubles as they would now be at the mercy of corporate houses and have to cultivate whatever they will be asked to do,” minister Oraon told, reminding the days when farmers were forced to plant indigo against their will during the British rule.

“We have organised these protests upholding the tradition of the Congress that has always sided with the farmers and looked into their interests,” Oraon told The Telegraph from Hazaribagh, adding the party had been supporting the farmers the same way Gandhiji did in Champaran a century ago.

“The Congress, when in power at the Centre, had always fixed minimum support price so that the farmers were never deprived,” he further said, adding they had also waived their loans as they did the same in Jharkhand recently.

“Today’s massive gathering is the proof of how aggrieved the farmers are,” said Congress state spokesperson Alok Dubey, referring to the huge gathering.

“This is really an impressive gathering that Hazaribagh didn’t see in recent time,” agreed a scribe who was there for reporting the event for a national daily.