RAHUL STOPPED ON MANDSAUR TRAIL
FARMERS’ STIR Cong VP meets kin of 5 victims after release, BJP cries foul
Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi was detained when he tried to enter Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. He was later released, and met the families of the farmers killed in police firing.
MANDSAUR/BHOPAL: A political storm over violent farmer protests in Madhya Pradesh intensified on Thursday as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was arrested and held for hours before finally meeting the families of five farmers who died in police firing two days ago.
Police stopped Gandhi and a slew of top Congress leaders outside Mandsaur that has been scorched by angry agitations with several vehicles burnt and buildings torched.
The farmers are pressing for a loan waiver, better crop prices and better support for farmers reeling under successive droughts and a supply glut that has sent prices crashing.
“Modi cannot waive loans of farmers, cannot give them bonuses…he can only give them bullets,” Gandhi said minutes after his arrest. “What law of the land says that it is illegal to stand in solidarity with farmers who were killed simply for demanding what is their right?”
The morning kicked off with high drama as Gandhi abandoned his car halfway to Mandsaur from Udaipur airport and rode pillion on a motorcycle before walking to the RajasthanMadhya Pradesh border on foot. He then jumped over barricades to enter Mandsaur but was pushed back across the border almost immediately by a huge posse of security personnel. Late in the evening, he met the families of the five victims at the Rajasthan border.
Chief minister Chouhan and the BJP leadership have blamed the Congress of trying to destabilise the administration in a state that the saffron party has ruled for 14 years.
“He (Gandhi) behaved like a college student. He was riding a bike without wearing a helmet. He was smiling and did not look concerned over farmers’ problems,” said state home minister Bhupendra Singh.
More than 10 million people in Madhya Pradesh are dependent on agriculture but the state has clocked one of India’s highest rates of farmer suicides in the past few years. The deaths have come as a major embarrassment for Chouhan, who calls himself a farmer’s son and is banking on the farmers to guarantee him a fourth term in elections slated for next year.
The state government has attempted to open dialogue with the farmers and even announced a ₹6,000 crore scheme to waive interests on loans, but without much success.The protests have singed at least six districts in Madhya Pradesh with fresh clashes reported from Shajapur on Thursday. Protesting farmers blocked the highway and set trucks and motorcycle ablaze.