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Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh Thursday arrested main opposition Congress party's second-in-command Rahul Gandhi on his way to Mandsaur, the epicenter of farmer protests that have escalated over the deaths of five in police firing Tuesday.
"The 46-year-old Nehru-Gandhi scion has been taken into preventive custody even before he could enter Mandsaur from the neighboring western state of Rajastan to meet the families of the five dead farmers as curfew is imposed in the area. He was taken to a makeshift jail," a police official said.
Local TV channels showed dramatic footage of Gandhi trying to enter Mandsaur from Rajasthan first on a bike, defying police barricades, and then on foot before he was finally stopped by cops.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi waived money for the elite but he cannot waive farmer loans. He can only give goli (false promises) to farmers," Gandhi told the media persons who followed him on his journey to the violence-hit area.
Meanwhile, the state government Thursday admitted that it was police firing that killed the five protesting farmers. "As per information with me, the farmers were killed after police opened fire to contain their violence," state Home Minister Bhupendra Singh told the media.
The home minister had earlier blamed some "anti-social elements" for the deaths.
The farmers in Mandsaur have been protesting, demanding loan waivers and better prices for their produce. This is because traders are not offering them good prices due to an oversupply caused by a bumper harvest this year.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the government will write off the loans of farmers who have defaulted on payments. He has also promised to set up a commission to decide a fair minimum price for crops.
But opposition parties have attacked the central and the state governments -- both ruled by Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that both the governments need do more to calm the protesting farmers.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
