MP farmers' stir: Rahul Gandhi's entry into Mandsaur blocked; RAF deployed

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi might not be able to meet the victims of Tuesday's police firing in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh as the state administration has decided to stop him at Nayagaon in Neemuch, around 40 kilometre away from the epicentre.

Other Congress leaders, including senior leaders like Ajay Singh and Arun Yadav, have also been stopped from going towards Mandsaur. Gandhi is being accompanied by Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav.

The state administration has shifted the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Mandsaur and clamped section 144 in all sensitive areas, including the borders of Rajasthan, Gujarat and also around roads approaching from Madhya Pradesh.

Neemuch SP Manoj Kumar Singh said that Gandhi would not be allowed to enter the violence-hit district, adding that the Congress vice-president would be detained if he tried to enter the district. 

On Wednesday, the Congress called the killing of five farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh "coldblooded murder" and questioned the prime minister's silence over it. The Congress also accused the BJP of "acting as a curse of death for Indian farmers". 

AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi on Wednesday said that it was insulting and unfortunate that the BJP-led NDA government was in denial mode over the firing and accused it of spreading rumours and canards over who fuelled the farmers' protest. 

He also hit out at the BJP for denying permission to people, including Gandhi, who wanted to go and express solidarity with the bereaved farmers. 

At least five farmers were shot dead as the more than a fortnight-long agitation of farmers in the state turned violent in Mandsaur on Tuesday even as the main group spearheading the agitation distanced itself from the incident.

"We have been protesting against the falling price of farm produce and are also demanding a loan waiver for farmers. We have held big agitations in Dewas, Indore, and Sonkach but never have the protests become violent. It is the presence of anti-social elements, supported by a political party, that has lead to the firing," said Sunil Goud, secretary of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, the main agitators fighting for the farmers.

The Rastriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, incidentally, is run by a former state president of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, with which the state government recently held a meeting to break the agitation. 

After reports of widespread violence in parts of the state on Wednesday, contingents of Rapid Action Force (RAF) were on Thursday deployed in the violence-hit Mandsaur district where the situation remained tense. 

Two companies of RAF, comprising around 100 men each, have moved into Pipliamandi in Mandsaur, the site of Tuesday's shooting of five farmers, police said.

While two companies of RAF have been posted in Garoth area in the district, another two have been deployed along the Mwoh-Neemuch Highway to prevent any untoward incidents, they said.