Shivraj Singh Chouhan will observe a sit-in protest to show solidarity with the farmers

Chouhan to protest for Centre's apathy towards farmers affected by natural calamities

After Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Kumar Reddy and Nitish Kumar, a fourth Chief Minister--Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh--is embarking on a dharna, all in the span of two months.

Chouhan and his Cabinet colleagues will stage a sit-in here tomorrow during the state-wide bandh call given by the BJP to protest the Centre's apathy towards farmers affected by natural calamities.

"When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no time to meet the MP Chief Minister during his last visit to Delhi on the issue of farmers despite the fact that he was present in the national capital, the BJP is left with no option except to resort to protest," Madhya Pradesh BJP President Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters here today.

Farmers across MP would also stage a road blockade on the issue, Tomar said.

The BJP has given a call to observe a shut down until 2 pm in order to highlight the "apathetic attitude" of the Centre towards the state's farmers, and the entire MP Cabinet will stage a sit-in protest in the state capital from 10 am to 2 pm, he said.

The BJP had demanded declaration of extensive damage to crops by rain and hailstorm as a "national calamity" and asked for a package of Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre, he said.

Other issues over which the BJP has given a protest call are meagre compensation given by the Centre to soyabean crop despite a central team recommending a Rs 370-crore relief package, purchase of gram crop at the maximum support price and recognising MP as a basmati rice growing state, he said.

Kejriwal set the trend for a Chief Minister to sit on a dharna with his 33-hour protest against the Delhi Police in the heart of Delhi in January. The AAP leader has since resigned over the issue of Jan Lokpal, climaxing a 49-day tumultous tenure as Delhi Chief Minister.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy came to Delhi to hold his "dharna" last month in a last ditch attempt to prevent bifurcation of his state.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar spent five hours on Sunday protesting in Patna in a bid to put pressure on the Centre to accept his demand for granting special status to the eastern state.