Mandsaur stir: Madhya Pradesh's farmers are even in my dreams, says Chouhan

Congress' Jyotiraditya Scindia to sit on a 72-hour-long 'satyagraha' against BJP from June 14

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's indefinite fast to restore peace amid the raging farmers' protest in the state entered its second day on Sunday even as Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia announced Saturday that he would sit on a 72-hour-long 'satyagraha' from June 14 to counter the BJP government's "anti-farmer policies". 

"I slept intermittently and all that while I kept thinking about what all topics, out of the ones we discussed with the farmers, can be worked upon as soon as possible," Chouhan said today, adding, "kisaan khwaabon mein bhi thhe, haqeeqat mein bhi." (The farmers and their issues were in my thoughts and dreams.)

"I have always tried doing a lot for farmers, and their problem is ours. They are our own. I also thought upon how to increase the productivity and sustain it," he added.

Chouhan also described how the families of the deceased farmers, killed in the past week's police firing in Mandsaur, met him and asked him to discontinue the fast.

"One thing that made me emotional was the number of our children that we lost in these protests. Their parents came to meet me yesterday and, despite such grief befalling upon them, asked me to put an end to the issue," he said.

Congress kicks into action

Scindia, Congress' chief whip in the Lok Sabha, will also visit Mandsaur on June 13 to meet the family members of the farmers killed in the police firing on Tuesday.

"Scindia will sit on a 72-hour-long 'satyagraha' from 3 pm on June 14 at T T Nagar Dussehra Maidan in support of the farmers, who are holding protests across the state," Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi said on Saturday.

Scindia will reach Indore on June 12 and meet the farmers who were injured in the police firing at Mandsaur. The injured farmers are undergoing treatment at Indore's MY Hospital.

"He will visit the villages, including Badwant, Lodh, Khanduriya Kachan, Thakarawad, Chillod Pipliya (all in Mandsaur district), Barkheda Punch and Nayakheda (both in Neemuch district), to meet the family members of those killed in police firing," Chaturvedi added.

No AC for Chouhan

Commenting about the amenities provided to him in the tent he is staying in for the duration of his fast, he said, "I was told that this was a five-star tent. They even asked me to put an AC, but I said that wasn't required. You don't go on a fast for the farmers by living in AC. We made a meeting room because I had to meet officials and farmers."

Earlier, Chouhan had hinted that he would end the fast soon after the families of the farmers who were killed in the police firing met him and requested him to call off his fast.

"We requested the chief minister to call off his hunger strike. We don't think that he is doing any drama. He is genuinely concerned about us. We also asked for stern action against the culprits," said a deceased farmer's father.

The chief minister assured that justice would be done and the culprits would be punished.

Chouhan had said that he would not let the state be engulfed by violence and would ensure that peace returns.

"I discussed many problems and its solution. There are some issues which have already been addressed and there are some on which we have to take a decision. We are considering every issue seriously whether it is small or big. We will think about it and discuss it and, thereafter, we will definitely take a decision in the interest of farmers," Chouhan said.

"My fast will continue till there is peace in the entire state. Madhya Pradesh is a temple to me and its people are my God. People's pain is my pain," he added.