Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi made his first public appearance today after his 57-day sabbatical, meeting farmers' delagations ahead of Sunday's "Kisan Khet Mazdoor" rally in Delhi.

Half-a-dozen farmers' groups from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh are attending the meet, which is being held at his New Delhi residence.

The party is expected to take farmers on board regarding its plans to oppose the land acquisition law ahead of the second half of the Parliament's budget session, which is to begin on Monday.
Earlier this month, the land acquisition ordinance was reissued after the government failed to pass a bill to replace it in Parliament.

A united opposition, led by the Congress, has called  the proposed land law anti-farmer and the party plans to raise the pitch with tomorrow's farmers rally -- which both Mr Gandhi and his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are expected to address.

Today's meeting is also expected to be an exploratory exercise regarding the problems farmers are facing - the key one being the crop loss in nine states following the unseasonal rains in March and April.

"The farmers are facing a grave situation. We hope he raises voice for us," said some of the delegates of the meeting.

Sunday's rally, to be held at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds, has been organised on a mammoth scale - the party says it expects around one lakh farmers to attend it. Rajasthan party chief Sachin Pilot has booked a special 17-coach "Kissan (farmer) Express" from Jaipur to Delhi.

The rally is being seen as the comeback platform of the 44-year-old Congress vice president after his 57-day sabbatical, that included a course in vipassana or meditation.

- Manohar