Cong sounds poll bugle in MP with mega farmers' convention

Virtually sounding the poll bugle for the party's campaign ahead of the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, senior Congress leaders today came together at a mega farmers' convention, where they slammed the ruling BJP in the state that recently witnessed large-scale protests by cultivators.

Congress general secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, party's Chief Whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia, former union minister Kamal Nath, Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Raj Babbar, AICC general secretary Mohan Prakash and others shared the stage at the 'Kisan Evam Yuva Kranti Sammelan' - a mega convention of farmers and youths organised by the party- at Lahar in the district, about 100 kms from Gwalior.
 

Scindia launched a scathing attack on the state government and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the death of farmers in Mandsaur during the protests last month.

"Chouhan has to answer as to why six farmers were killed when they were protesting to support their rightful demands. June 6 is a black day," Scindia said amid applause.

While highlighting the "scams" that the Chouhan government allegedly indulged in, including the infamous Vyapam scam, Scindia and other Congress leaders indicated that farmer's issue would be one of the main planks of the Congress in the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

"Mahatma Gandhi had started the Champaran movement for farmers' rights about 100 years back and now a new movement is starting from Lahar that would lead to the formation of a farmers' government," Scindia said.

In his address, Kamal Nath, the MP from Chhindwara, said that pulses worth Rs 24,000 crore have been imported in the last six months. "As a result of this, farmers are in deep trouble," he added.

"The huge support to this meet is the manifestation that the Congress is going to form government in state next year," he said.

Digvijaya Singh equated the convention with Dabra convention in 1993, after which Congress had formed the government in the state.

"Congress was united and barring Raj Babbar, Mohan Prakash and me all the leaders on the stage are chief minister material," he said in a lighter vein.