As the farmers’ agitation turned more violent in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, it acquired political connotations with the Opposition upping the ante by announcing that its leaders, like Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Yadav, would go to Mandsaur on Thursday and demanding Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation.
The Government accused the Congress of instigating the farmers and politicising the issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to take stock of the situation.
The Centre has sought a detailed report over Tuesday’s violence and steps taken by the State Government to bring back normalcy in the violence-hit Mandsaur district. But with the violence spreading to more districts, the Centre on Wednesday rushed five additional battalions of paramilitary forces to the State on the request of the MP Government. Five battalions are already deployed there. Earlier, the Government also called off the scheduled Cabinet briefing.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav are likely to go together to Mandsaur to assess the situation and meet the relatives of the five persons killed in the alleged police firing.
As the Congress demanded the resignation of Chouhan, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu stoutly defended the MP CM and blamed the main Opposition party for instigating farmers. Naidu said the protests were being hijacked by the Congress.
“It is a very sad turn of events in a State that is the most peaceful in India. The Congress is trying to politicise farmers’ problems after they failed to counter Chouhan politically in the State,” Naidu said on the sidelines of a function.
“The PM has ordered an enquiry and the truth will come out. I ask the Congress why they want instant solution to farmers’ problems in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh when they have no solution for farmers in Congress-ruled Karnataka,” he said.
Naidu credited Chouhan with taking several pro-farmer steps in the State and described the MP CM as one of the best Chief Ministers of the BJP. “Because of his initiatives, 20 per cent of farmers in the country are in MP... He has encouraged them, has got them land and electricity. Because of this their production has increased. They might not be getting ideal price for their crops and they are protesting against that, sure, and the State Government is addressing these issues, the Congress is politicising it,” said Naidu.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kamal Nath accused the Chouhan Government of committing injustice against farmers, and demanded an immediate probe into the violence. Another Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi, hailing from the region, too sought the MP CM’s resignation because of his inability to contain the violence.
“An injustice is taking place with farmers in Madhya Pradesh. I demand a proper investigation of the Mandsaur incident. They are bidding over dead bodies. It is very shameful. They are talking about Rs 5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, Rs 1 crore. Shivraj Singh Chouhan must resign. At the end, it is his responsibility and it would be unjustified if any police officer is shifted,” Nath said.
At the AICC briefing, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the BJP has almost been acting like a curse of death for farmers. Singvhi said Rahul Gandhi wanted to go and express solidarity with the bereaved but was denied permission and instead a canard was spread.
Pointing to Maharashtra, Singhvi said one of the largest agricultural States has been virtually on strike for over five days. “The Government is not looking at their demands, it is turning a deaf ear, it is not giving a healing touch. On top of that, it is throttling their voice. It is preventing communication,” he said.
The Congress recalled that Maharashtra incidentally tops the list of farmers’ suicides. “In 2015, the astonishing number of 4,291 suicides happened in Maharahstra, roughly 12 per day of total; Madhya Pradesh saw 1,290 farmers’ suicides,” said the Rajya Sabha member.