Bhopal: The Congress, which made a big issue of police firing on farmers in Mandsaur during the Assembly polls, has now termed it as ‘valid’ after coming to the power in the state. Home Minister Bala Bachchan, in his written reply to a question raised by MLA Harsh Gehlot, said the police action was valid and they followed standard procedure and they did it for self-defence and protection of private and public property.
Earlier, the Congress had claimed that the firing was done on farmers but Bachchan on Monday informed the House that it was done to control the violent mob. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Shravan Bhandari, following the legal process, had ordered for fire. Retired justice JK Jain has been conducting a probe into the firing incident.
Bachchan’s reply has given clean chit to the police in firing incident. The Congress had grilled the BJP government on this issue. Congress national president Rahul Gandhi had come to Mandsaur after the firing incident and held a rally. Rahul had said that he would ensure punishment to the guilty after coming to power. The reply of Home Minister in the House clearly shows that the government is not in a mood to punish anyone on the incident.