Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, along with 29 other leaders including Janata Dal(U)’s Sharad Yadav, was on Thursday arrested for “breach of peace” for trying to force his way to violence-hit Mandsaur. However, they were later released on bail on the condition that the administration will allow Rahul and other leaders to meet the agitating farmers.
Rahul met the agitators, including the kin of the slain farmers, at the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border.
After being prevented from entering violence-hit Mandsaur, Rahul accused the Narendra Modi Government of favouring the rich and giving farmers “only bullets”. After he got bail, the curfew imposed on Tuesday evening was released in the area for two hours.
“Modi waived loans worth Rs 1,50,000 crore for the richest people in India,” he said, “But they can’t pay the right price to farmers for their produce, they can’t give compensation either. They can give only bullets.”
Asked who was responsible for the killing of the five farmers on Tuesday, Rahul said, “(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Madhya Pradesh) Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan).”
Earlier, there was high drama as police tried to stop what had turned into a rally of sorts with Gandhi leading from the front. When police tried to push him back, he ran into a field nearby from where he was detained.
Surging crowds of Congress supporters followed him, shouting slogans like “Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan” and “Rahul Gandhi zindabad”.
Police tried to stop them saying there was curfew in Mandsaur. At this, Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath protested, saying they wanted to go there to restore peace but were being stopped.
Determined to meet the families of farmers in distress, Gandhi had walked for close to 100 metres before entering
Madhya Pradesh from Dalia village in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district.
“Before entering MP, Rahul rode pillion on a motorcycle in Nimbahed in Chittorgarh district for about five to seven kilometres,” IG Udaipur Anand Srivastava told PTI.
“(Rahul) Gandhi reached Udaipur from Delhi in a chartered plane and left for Madhya Pradesh in a four wheeler by road... After the bike ride, he walked to cross the border,” he said.