Congress leaders detained while protesting against low MSP

Police today detained around 26 Congress workers and local leaders, including former MP Kunvarji Bavaliya and city Congress president Dinesh Chovatiya for protesting against low Minimum Support Price (MSP) for cotton and groundnut.
Demanding an increase in MSP for cotton and groundnut, Congress leaders held a demonstration at the newly-constructed marketing yard premises at Bedi town on the outskirts of city.
Led by Bavaliya and Chovatiya a large number of Congress workers rushed to the yard and blocked traffic on the Rajkot-Jamnagar highway, which led to their detention.
"After they blocked the main highway, we detained around 26 Congress leaders and workers, including Bavaliya and Chovatiya. They were released later," ACP Banno Joshi said.

Talking to reporters, Chovatia said that MSP declared by the Gujarat government is very low. "The MSP announced by the Gujarat state government for cotton and groundnut is very low, which will result in huge losses for farmers. If the MSP is not increased, Congress will stage more demonstrations," Chovatiya said.
A few days ago, the RSS-backed farmers' body Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) had came out in support of farmers from the Saurashtra region and organised a huge rally here demanding an increase in MSP.

Farmers had demanded that the MSP of cotton should be increased from Rs 810 per 20 kg to Rs 1,000 and MSP for groundnut should be increased from Rs 900 per 20 kg to Rs 1,100.

Gujarat state agriculture minister Babu Bokhiria took note of the situation and claimed to have conveyed it to the Union Agriculture Ministry.
"MSP is not decided by the Gujarat state government. It is decided by a central committee. We just implement it. However, we have conveyed the dissatisfaction of farmers in Gujarat about the MSP to the Union Agriculture Ministry through our channels," Bokhiria told reporters in Gandhinagar.