Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the government on the agitation by farmers, whom he equated with 'satyagrahis' who will take their rights from the government.

"The country is facing a tragedy like Champaran; then, the British were Company Bahadur, and now the friends of PM are Company Bahadur," he tweeted in Hindi.

"But the agitating farmers are 'satyagrahis'; they will take their rights," he added.

Satyagraha denotes a policy of passive political resistance, especially that advocated by Mahatma Gandhi against the British rule in India.

Champaran satyagraha was undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 during the freedom movement, leading the farmers' agitation against forced indigo farming.