The opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh organised ‘Kisan Nyay Yatra’ all across the state on Friday, demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 6,000 per quintal for soybean, Rs 3,100 for paddy and Rs 2,700 per quintal for wheat to the farmers.
MP Congress Chief Jitu Patwari and former MP CM Digvijaya Singh led the rally at Indore, MP Assembly leader of opposition Umang Singhar at Alirajpur, former CM Kamal Nath at Chhindwara while former minister P C Sharma guided the rally at Bhopal.
The Congress took out tractor rallies across the state. The police erected barricades and deployed bulldozers to prevent hundreds of tractors from entering into various cities of the state as part of the yatra.
At Indore, the Congress sought permission for 150 tractors to be part of the rally. However, the administration allowed only one tractor. Jitu Patwari drove the tractor himself and led the yatra before submitting a memorandum at the Indore Collectorate listing the demands.
Some Congress workers got injured after they had a minor scuffle with the police in an attempt to remove the police barricades. One Congress worker suffered injuries to his head and started bleeding.
In Ujjain, Congress MLA Dinesh Jain Bose fell off a moving tractor after he lost consciousness while sitting on the vehicle. The MLA was rushed to a private hospital, where he was said to be stable.
A Home Guard Jawan, identified as Dharmendra Solanki, deployed on duty in Ujjain during the yatra died after suffering a heart attack.
In Bhopal, the police stopped the yatra at the Suraj Nagar Square. The Congress workers and farmers protested by waving crops in their hands.
The Congress delegation submitted its memorandum to the district administration officials.
Jitu Patwari alleged that the BJP government is afraid of the farmers. He said the government has realised that if it does not give the MSP to farmers, the peasants would shut down all mandis across the state.