NEW DELHI/MANDSAUR: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday accused the Congress of instigating and politicising farmers’ stir in Madhya Pradesh and termed Rahul Gandhi’s planned visit to the violence-hit Mandsaur as “another photo opportunity”.Speaking to reporters here, Naidu also dismissed the Congress’s demand that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan step down from his post in view of the deaths of five protesting farmers in police firing.
Targetting the opposition party, he recalled an incident in the state’s Betul district on January 12, 1998, where 24 farmers died allegedly in police firing ordered by then chief minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
“The Congress is instigating and politicising the issue. It should stop doing that and behave as a responsible political party to help restore normalcy there,” Naidu said.
He dubbed the party vice-president’s planned visit to Mandsaur, the hotbed of the ongoing farmers’ agitation, as “yet another photo opportunity”.
On Chouhan’s resignation, Naidu questioned whether Singh had resigned from the post of chief minister after the farmers, who were seeking compensation after a hailstorm, were killed.
“Did they seek resignation of Singh when the 24 farmers were killed? Did the Congress vice-president visit the victim farmers then?” Naidu asked.
The minister described Chouhan as the most farmer-friendly chief minister and listed welfare measures taken by the BJP-led Centre and state government.
Mandsaur situation ‘almost normal’, says official
The situation in Mandsaur, ground zero of the farmer unrest where five people were killed, was “almost normal” on Thursday and curfew might be relaxed by evening, a senior official said.
Internet services that had been suspended might also be restored, divisional commissioner M B Ojha said.
“For the last two or three days, farmers were stopping vehicles and setting them on fire. No such incident has been reported today. The situation is almost normal,” he said.
If the situation continued to be quiet, curfew, imposed in four police station areas, including Pipaliya Mandi where the firing took place, might be relaxed.
