New Delhi, April 18 (IANS): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who returned home two days ago after a 56-day leave of absence, met farmers here on Saturday.

The farmers who met Gandhi said they discussed the land acquisition bill, which they described as anti-farmer.

The farmers also discussed the "mammoth" crop damage caused by unseasonal rain and hailstorms.

Roop Singh, a farmer from Haryana, told IANS that Gandhi assured him that Congress would raise the land bill issue in parliament.

"The act brought by Congress should be retained... The current bill is anti-farmer and is a Modi bill," the farmer said.

This was Gandhi's first public interaction after his sabbatical.

The 44-year-old Gandhi scion is scheduled to meet about half-a-dozen groups of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh at his residence later in the day.

The meetings were originally scheduled for Friday but were deferred till Saturday.

The meetings are being held a day ahead of a Congress rally to be held at the city's Ramlila Ground on Sunday.