NAGPUR, Apr 30 (NDTV) : Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has begun a day-long 15-km 'padyatra' or trek through villages in Maharashtra's Vidarbha, which has come to be known for its high rate of suicide among desperate, debt-ridden farmers.

Mr Gandhi, 44, began his trek from Gunji village in Amravati and met farmers who have suffered loss of crop due to unseasonal rain. He will also visit the homes of farmers who have committed suicide.

The Congress leader is accompanied by a retinue of state leaders from his party and plans to stop at five villages on his 'sanvad padyatra' or dialogue march.

He had raised the issue of farmers in Parliament yesterday, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi with direct jibes and accusing him of neglecting farmers, who he said are in pain.

Earlier this week, Mr Gandhi visited the grain markets of Punjab, where he met farmers struggling to sell their produce after the unseasonal rain and hailstorms destroyed ready winter crop.

"Does the farmer not make in India?" said Mr Gandhi yesterday, referring to PM Modi's massive manufacturing push in the country, Make in India. The Congress leader alleges that the Modi government's land reforms are designed to benefit rich industrialists at the cost of poor farmers

Mr Gandhi has declared that he will travel "wherever farmers are facing difficulties, to raise their voice."

The BJP, which rules at the Centre and in the states that Mr Gandhi has toured this week, Punjab and Maharashtra, alleges that there is a political agenda behind his travels.

Rahul Gandhi, who returned from a 56-day sabbatical abroad earlier this month, is seen as trying rebuild his party after it was decimated by the BJP in the national elections last year. The defeat in May was followed by several others in states, including Maharashtra.

Widely tipped to take over as Congress president from his mother Sonia Gandhi soon, Rahul's focus on farmers is seen as an attempt to consolidate the support of 67 per cent of the country's population.