Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Congress workers staged a massive protest over issues related to farmers in state capital Bhopal on Monday.
State Congress President Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar, MLA Sachin Yadav and several other party workers participated in the protest, held at Rang Mahal square in the state capital. The crowd was heading to gheraoed the state assembly and the police used water cannons to disperse the crowd of the party workers.
Congress chief Patwari told reporters, “It is the responsibility of the Congress party to protest against the BJP who made promises to women, farmers and youth of the state. Today, we held this protest with a feeling that the state government should provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 3100 a quintal for rice, Rs 2700 a quintal for wheat and Rs 6000 a quintal. The Union Agriculture Minister hails from the state but he does not talk about MSP.”
The Congress party has decided that if rice and wheat procurement is not done according to the promises made then, the party will reach each and every Mandi and hold protests with the farmers, he added.
The Congress further said, “State Congress’s farmers wing will continue this movement in every mandi where crop procurement takes place in the state for the next two months.”
LoP Umang Singhar said that the Congress party is with the farmers and the fight will last from road to the state assembly in the interest of the farmers.
“I would like to ask the Kisan Sangh (linked to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) who seek votes of farmers in favour of BJP during elections, but why the Kisan Sangh has not fulfilled the promise even after one year from their government. Kisan Sangh staged fake protests. But the Congress is with the farmers and will fight from the road to the house for them,” Singhar said.
Former state minister and Congress MLA Sachin Yadav said they have always worked to fight for the rights of the farmers.
“The BJP had promised in its Sankalp Patra that after the formation of the government, wheat will be procured at the rate of Rs 2700 a quintal and rice at Rs 3100 a quintal. But even after so long of government formation, the government has not fulfilled the promise it had made. Therefore, today we have staged a protest about the outrage of the farmers against the government. We have put forward our demands, but the government is so scared that it does not want to listen to us and the administration is using the police water cannons to suppress us,” Yadav said.
“If the Congress workers have to shed their blood for farmers then, the congressmen will not lag behind,” he added.
