Union Minister Radha Mohan ‘egged’ in Odisha amid MP peasant protest
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who has remained silent over the deadly protest by Madhya Pradesh farmers, was on Saturday greeted with eggs in Odisha by Congress activists, angry over the killing of six protesters in the neighbouring state.
The Youth Congress activists also waived black flags as soon as the minister’s cavalcade left a state guest house in Khurdha district for an official function “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” in Jatani, near Bhubaneswar.
However, the egg missiles missed the intended target but a couple of them broke in front of Singh’s official vehicle, witnesses said.
At least five Congress workers were arrested, a police official said. Odisha Youth Congress chief Loknath Maharathy was among the arrested.
Calling him anti-farmer, Maharathy said Radha Mohan Singh had no moral right to be the Agriculture Minister “after the brutal killing of farmers in Madhya Pradesh ruled by the BJP”.
Congress leader Pradip Majhi said the “egg attack was carried out to sensitise (the central government), so that the problems of the farmers of Odisha and other parts of the country are addressed”.
The angry Congress activists were demonstrating in protest against the death of six farmers in police firing in Mandsaur district, the epicentre of the farmers’ agitation in Madhya Pradesh, which remained calm but tense as authorities allowed a 12-hour relaxation in curfew from 8 a,m, to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Mandsaur and its adjoining Neemuch district were the epicentre of the peasant stir even as protests spread to other parts of the state after police opened fire at farmers on June 6.