The farmer agitation in Madhya Pradesh has turned violent. Farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh seek not just loan waivers, but also minimum support prices (MSP). The farmers in Uttar Pradesh too are pinned down because of their economic losses and loans. In his first cabinet meeting, the new Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had waived off loans given to small and marginal farmers. That still left thousands of farmers out of its ambit. Those who were covered by the scheme had to battle piles of paperwork.
In the wake of the farmers’ protest that has rocked Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sat down on an indefinite fast on 10 June. The CM said that farmers could meet him at Dussehra Maidan and discuss their problems, even as the death toll in the farmers’ agitation climbed to six. In Mandsaur, curfew was relaxed on 9 June for eight hours, but the violence shifted to Bhopal. Mandsaur, the epicentre of the farmers' agitation in Madhya Pradesh, remained peaceful with authorities relaxing curfew for 12 hours from 8 am to 8 pm. As the situation eased, markets reopened and locals stepped out to stock essentials such as vegetables and milk.
With no fresh case of
violence, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh called off his fast for
farmers. Chouhan asserted that peace has returned to the state. He broke his
fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former state chief minister
Kailash Joshi.
