Rahul Gandhi addresses Jan Akanksha rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. (Photo: Twitter @INCIndia) Rahul Gandhi addresses Jan Akanksha rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. (Photo: Twitter @INCIndia)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday addressed Jan Akanksha rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna and said the BJP government at Centre can waive industrialists’ loans but not those of farmers. He mocked the budget 2019 announcement of Rs 6,000 minimum annual income support to farmers and said, “PM has given Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani, but only Rs 17 per day to the farmers of the country.” Gandhi also promised minimum income guarantee to poor if the Congress party gets to form the government at Centre.

The Jan Akanksha rally was the Congress’ first public meeting at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan in nearly three decades. Congress is part of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar which comprises of RJD, RLSP and HAM.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the rally. According to Superintendent of Police, Patna, Garima Malik, nearly 3,000 police personnel, including constables, sub-inspectors and officers of DSP rank were deployed in the city to maintain law and order even as a temporary outpost has been set up in the vicinity of the venue of the rally.