Rahul attacks Maha, MP govts

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today launched a veiled attack on BJP governments in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh over the death of farmers due to pesticide poisoning and alleged thrashing of peasants by police in the respective states.
In tweets, Gandhi said, "Saddened by the tragic death of farmers in Yavatmal. Farmers are being poisoned in Maharashtra and stripped & beaten in Madhya Pradesh.
"What development model is this? Killing and dehumanising the sons of soil who feed us?"
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, while commenting on the alleged thrashing of peasants in Madhya Pradesh, said the "exploitation of farmers" has become a "routine affair" during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure.

He said the alleged thrashing of farmers in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh makes the entire India feel ashamed.
"There has to be a judicial probe into the incident and action has to be taken against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. The police alone is not doing this. It is being done under political patronage. Hence, the chief minister is completely responsible," Surjewala said while talking to reporters here.

Although the Maharashtra government did not specify the number of deaths, eminent farm activist from Vidarbha, Kishor Tiwari, and the Shiv Sena have said the pesticide exposure reported in Yavatmal district in the state's Vidarbha region has claimed 18 lives so far.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today ordered an inquiry into the deaths.
In Madhya Pradesh, the opposition Congress today alleged that a group of farmers returning from a protest for declaring Tikamgarh as a drought-hit district were "detained, stripped and beaten up" by the police last evening, charges denied by the BJP government.
The Congress also accused the Madhya Pradesh government of suppressing the voice of farmers, even as Home Minister Bhupendra Singh asked the police chief to conduct an inquiry and file a report within three days.
The Congress had organised a farmers' protest outside the Tikamgarh collectorate seeking drought-hit status for the district, which received scanty rainfall this year.