Bhopal: Hours after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held talks with the protesting farmers in Ujjain district, the MP Kisan Sena (MPKS), which was spearheading the stir, called off the agitation.
“We called off our stir around 10.50 pm after holding talks with different farmer leaders,” MPKS secretary Jagdish Rawalia told PTI over phone.
After the dialogue between the CM and representatives of the farmers, RSS-affiliated farmers’ body Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), that backed the stir yesterday on its third day, said it was satisfied with the talks and announced the protest stands withdrawn.
BKS’s Kshetriya Sangathan Mantri Shivkant Dixit said the farmers have decided to withdraw their stir as the CM agreed to “most of their demands”.
After the meeting, the CM tweeted, “I am happy the farmers have decided to withdraw the strike. The MP government is pro-farmer and will continue to work for their welfare.”
The farmers called off their stir after Chouhan assured them that onion will be purchased at Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 8 per kg. Chouhan tweeted that the procurement of onion at a rate of Rs 8 per kg would start within 3-4 days and would continue till the month-end.
“In summer, the government would purchase the Moong dal at its Minimum Support Price (MSP),” Chouhan said in an another tweet. He also announced withdrawal of cases filed against the farmers in course of the agitation. Besides, Chouhan agreed to other demands of the farmers, particularly satisfactory prices for their produce. Earlier in the day, fresh violence were reported from Sehore and Ratlam on the fourth day of the stir.
In Sehore district, nine policemen including City Superintendent of Police (CSP) SR Dadotia and tehsildar Santosh Mudgal were injured when protesting farmers allegedly pelted stones at them at Sonda village on the Indore-Bhopal road.
Police were attacked when they went to disperse farmers who had stopped a banana-laden truck and were throwing the fruit on the road, Sehore ASP AP Singh, said adding the policemen used tear gas shells to disperse the farmers. Farmers emptied 5,000 liters of milk from a tanker at Raipuria in Jhabua district. “Police registered a case against unidentified persons,” said Raipuria Police Station in-charge ML Bhawan.
Bandh in Maharashtra
As the agitation of farmers in Maharashtra continued for the fourth day today and the supply of vegetables and milk remained largely hit, farmers’ outfits said they were firm on going ahead with the ‘Maharashtra bandh’ on Monday, excluding Mumbai.
The BJP’s ruling partner the Shiv Sena also extended its support to the ‘bandh’ call. The prices of vegetables and fruits have been on an upward path in cities, including Mumbai, due to the drastic fall in supplies from key production centres like Nashik and Ahmednagar.
Farmers, who have been on war path since June 1 for their demands, including waiver of farm loan and other concessions like lower power tariff, continued the agitation for the fourth day on Sunday in parts of Maharashtra, including Nashik and Ahmednagar, which have become nerve centres of the protest.
A meeting of farmers’ representatives from different parts of the state under the aegis of the Kisan Kranti Morcha (KKM), that is spearheading the agitation, was held at the agriculture produce market committee in Nashik this afternoon.
During the meeting several resolutions were passed and a decision to go ahead with the Maharashtra bandh (excluding Mumbai) was taken. The call for the bandh was given two days back.
“The Kisan Kranti Morcha committee has given a call for ‘Maharashtra bandh’ tomorrow, excluding Mumbai,” convener of the committee, Chandrakant Bankar, said. (PTI)