Jyotiraditya Scindia on satyagraha. (PTI Photo)
The Congress, emboldened by the response to its ongoing satyagraha in support of farmers, on Friday accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of having the blood of land tillers on its hands and vowed to take the campaign to every constituency till justice is done.
The 72-hour satyagraha, the two-day Bhopal leg of which ended Friday, will culminate in a kisan mahapanchayat at Khalghat Saturday and all state leaders, including Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia and MP Kamal Nath, will attend it.
Scindia, who led the Bhopal protest by camping at the venue, announced that the satyagraha will continue till criminal cases are filed against police officers who fired at farmers and over 300 jailed farmers are freed. He said the party will back Congress MLAs Jitu Patwari and Shakuntala Khatik who have been accused of inciting violence.
“Those who speak against the government are branded anti-nationals and in MP, cases are filed against them and attempt made to eliminate them. When farmers raise their voice, they are shot dead,” Scindia said, and turning to Gandhian Subba Rao added, “the freedom you fought for is in danger”.
The Congress MP from Guna said he had met over 200 delegations and held talks with over 1,000 farmers at the satyagraha site. “We will come out with a blueprint that will… take them on the path of development.”
Scindia questioned MP’s agriculural statistics, such as double digit growth rate and unprecedented increase of irrigated land, that are often mentioned by the BJP government. “If that’s true, why have 21,000 farmers committed suicide in 13 years and why do farmers continue to migrate in lakhs in search of work,” he asked.
