Shiv Sena, Congress slam Chouhan over his indefinite fast

BJP ally Shiv Sena today hit out at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the farmers' unrest in the state, saying instead of sitting on a fast here, the CM should have visited Mandsaur to comfort the farmers.

Congress also dubbed Chouhan's fast as mere "nautanki" (drama).

As the farmers' protests entered its tenth day in the state, Chouhan launched his indefinite fast at the Dusshera Maidan here today promising profitable prices to farmers for their produce.

Sena's media in-charge Apoorva Dubey, who reached the Dusshera Maidan, told reporters, "Instead of sitting here, he should have gone to Mandsaur to comfort and help the farmers. Chouhan should sit indefinitely on the fast till the farmers' woes are mitigated, or we else will launch an indefinite fast in support of the farmers."

"Those farmers who have come to the Dussehra Maiden had been brought by the ruling BJP. Farmers' stir is the result of the failure of Chouhan, the state bureaucracy and the police," he alleged.

Later, a delegation of Shiv Sena met Chouhan and suggested ways, including a loan waiver, to end the farmers unrest. After meeting the chief minister, Dubey did not speak to reporters.

State Congress chief spokesperson K K Mishra said, "Chouhan should tell people whether his so-called fast is a nautanki, an event or an act of repentance for his misdeeds that set the state on fire."

"Though he is trying to send a message that he is doing Gandhi-giri (using a Gandhian way), it is absolutely not so. He neither sat at the foot of the statue of Gandhi nor did he garland the statue before launching his nautanki," Mishra said.

"He should remember that (demon king) Ravana is burnt at the Dussehra Maidan every year," the Congress leader said.

Parts of western Madhya Pradesh has been on the boil ever since the farmers launched an agitation last week seeking loan waiver and better crop prices.

The situation has been volatile in Mandsaur and Neemuch in the last few days. Five farmers were killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday, while six others were injured.