‘Congress is quite strong in MP’
With Madhya Pradesh witnessing a no-holds - barred campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, Mukesh Nayak, the newly-appointed head of the Congress media cell in the state, is busy invigorating the party.
Describing the killing of five agitating farmers in Mandsaur of Madhya Pradesh, allegedly in firing by state police, as cold-blooded murder, the Congress on Wednesday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
Speaking to the media here, Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi also trashed as "shameless" the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) allegation that the Congress instigated the Mandsaur violence.
Describing the Mandsaur incident as tragic, Singhvi said that while farmers were demanding fair price for their produce, the BJP shot them.
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"They were seeking loan waivers and right price, but BJP killed them by bullets. This is the sad reality of Mandsaur," Singhvi added.
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh are on strike from June 1 to June 10 to demand waiver of their loans and that their produce be bought at a fair price.
"BJP has almost been acting like the curse of death for Indian farmers — literally, not figuratively. Distressed farmers are looked upon by the heartless BJP virtually as objects for authorities to fire upon," said the Congress spokesperson.
"What was insulting and sad was the complete denial of the Madhya Pradesh government, which intially said there was no firing," he added.
Singhvi also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Modi, ban on the internet and denial of permission to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to meet the farmers in Mandsaur.
"Prime Minister Modi speaks of development (Utthan), but has instead in last 24 hours only tweeted about 'Uttana-Mandukasana' (a yoga posture)," Singhvi said.
Singhvi said those who wanted to go and express solidarity with the farmers, including Rahul Gandhi, were denied permission and instead rumours and canards were spread that he wanted to go there to participate in the protest.
"Instead of giving a healing touch to the farmers, the government is preventing communication by banning the internet," Singhvi said.
Hundreds of angry farmers on Wednesday blocked roads and attacked two top officials at Mandsaur as their leaders claimed that eight people had died in the police firing a day earlier.
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