Chouhan govt facing a fresh farmers' agitation in poll year

A year after a massive farmers' agitation roiled western Madhya Pradesh with six people getting killed in police firing in Mandsaur, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is bracing up for a fresh stir.

It could be all the more challenging for the BJP government to handle, as Assembly elections are due this year.

A countrywide call for "Gram Bandh" (village shutdown) between June 1 and 10 is set to be centred on Mandsaur district of the state, the epicentre of last year's agitation.

Loan waiver and higher prices for farm produce are the main demands of agitators, represented by the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, a federation of farmers' bodies.

June 6 will be observed as "Vishwas-ghat Diwas" (Day of Betrayal) in memory of the farmers who lost their lives in police firing in Mandsaur on this day last year.

Shivkumar Sharma 'Kakkaji', convener of the Mahasangh, told PTI, "We have given a call for 'Gram Bandh' across the country between June 1 and June 10. On June 6, the day when six farmers were killed in police firing, representatives of farmers' organisations would gather at the firing site in Mandsaur to pay homage to deceased farmers."