Eggs hurled at minister; Shivraj on indefinite fast
bhubaneswar — 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. Odisha Youth Congress chief Loknath Maharathy was among the arrested.
The angry Congress activists were demonstrating in protest against the death of seven 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 8am to 8pm on Saturday.
Amid the spiralling protests by farmers, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday began his indefinite fast here “until peace is restored” in the state.
In Delhi, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury accused the BJPled central government of turning farming into a “loss-making profession” and meeting farmers’ genuine grievances with “bullets”.
“The essential point is this: We are not remunerating farmers adequately for their labour and produce. The BJP instead, is meeting their genuine grievances with bullets,” Yechury wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. —