The Congress MlAs, who held an overnight dharna in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday, intensified their protest on Wednesday on the issue of compensating the farmers affected by rain and hailstorm. The party MlAs continued their sit-in in the well of the House. The Congress party has announced that seven of its MlAs would also sit on a hunger-strike from Thursday in the House if its demands were not fulfilled.
While talking to media persons, leader of the Opposition Satydev Katare said, "We have decided to continue with our ongoing sit-in agitation inside the well of the House on the issue of compensating farmers hit by rain, hail and thunderstorm, until our demands are fulfilled."
"Besides, seven of our MlAs, namely, Jeetu Patwari, Shailendra Patel, Nilesh Awasthi, Sourabh Singh, Umang Singhar, Kamleshwar Patel and Girish Bhandari, will observe a hunger-strike," Katare, who was flanked by MP Congress president Arun Yadav as well as senior MlAs Mukesh Nayak and Bala Bachchan, said. He also said that the dharna would continue on Wednesday night too.
When asked whether they had received any ultimatum from the Government or Speaker Sitasharan Sharma to give up their protest, Katare replied in the negative. However, he said that the Speaker had told them not to use the Vidhan Sabha, which is a neutral place, for their agitation.
Katare said that the Congress does not plan to give up its protest until its demands are fulfilled, adding that if the Government has any problem with the demonstration, it should arrest the Congress MlAs and send them to jail.
The Congress has demanded that the BJP Government must give Rs 150 per quintal bonus on the wheat crop, waive off loan recovery and interest as well as compensate the farmers affected by the rain, hail and thunderstorm during the last fortnight.
Over the suggestion of Speaker Sitasharan Sharma that the Congress legislators, if facing problems with the State Government, should agitate against it outside the House, Congress member Jeetu Patwari said that the venue of the dharna cannot be changed, after it started in the House.