Published On : Thu, Jun 8th, 2017

Won’t allow visit, says police as Rahul’s convoy heads to Mandsaur

Advertisement

Udaipur: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who reached Udaipur airport is now on his way to Mandsaur by road to meet the kin of those killed during the farmers agitation. However, Neemuch SP, Manoj Kumar Singh, said the Congress leader will not be allowed to visit violence-hit Mandsaur.

To bring you up to speed, the Madhya Pradesh government has transferred Mandsaur Collector Swatantra Kumar Singh, who has now been replaced by OP Srivastava. Mandsaur SP OP Tripathi has also been transferred.

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu and the BJP has hit out at the Congress for “hijacking” the protest in Mandsaur. “It is a very sad turn of events in a state that is the most peaceful in India. The Congress is trying to politicise farmers’ problems after they failed to counter Shivraj Singh Chouhan politically in the state,” he said. BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said photo-op tourism will not benefit Rahul Gandhi at all.

Farmers in western Madhya Pradesh have been protesting since June 1 over various demands. The protesters have been demanding higher minimum support prices for their produce and loan waivers among other things.

“Rahul Gandhi is going to that area where the situation is very much tense. He should understand his responsibility. He should have talked about this first, but he is so fond of his publicity. That’s why he is going there,” Union Minister of Steel, Mines and Employment Narendra Singh Tomar said.

Meanwhile, the Congress has rebuffed reports of Gandhi participating in the ongoing farmers protest in Mandsaur, saying such a plan was never on the card for the party.

“People who wanted to go and express solidarity with the bereaved farmers, including Rahul Gandhi, were denied permission. Instead canards and rumours were spread that he wanted to go earlier to participate in the protest. There were never any plans, never any attempt,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in a press briefing here.

Appealing for peace to the agitating farmers in the state, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to the kin of those killed in the violence.