Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Credit: PTI
Bhopal: Hours after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held talks with protesting farmers in Ujjain district, the MP Kisan Sena (MPKS), which was spearheading the stir, called off the agitation.
“We called off our stir around 10:50 pm after holding talks with different farmer leaders,” MPKS secretary Jagdish Rawalia told PTI over phone.
After the dialogue between the chief minister and representatives of the farmers, RSS-affiliated farmers’ body Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), that backed the stir on its third day on Saturday, said it was satisfied with the talks and announced the protest stands withdrawn.
BKS’s kshetriya sangathan mantri Shivkant Dixit said the farmers have decided to withdraw their stir as the chief minister agreed to “most of their demands”.
After the meeting, the chief minister tweeted, “I am happy the farmers have decided to withdraw the strike. The MP government is pro-farmer and will continue to work for their welfare.”
The farmers called off their stir after Chouhan assured them that onion will be purchased at the MSP of Rs 8 per kg.
Chouhan tweeted that the procurement of onion at a rate of Rs 8 per kg would start within 3-4 days and would continue till the month-end.
“In summer, the government would purchase the Moong dal at its MSP,” Chouhan said in an another tweet.
He also announced withdrawal of cases filed against the farmers in course of the agitation.
Besides, Chouhan agreed to other demands of the farmers, particularly satisfactory prices for their produce.
Earlier in the day, fresh violence were reported from Sehore and Ratlam on the fourth day of the stir.
Farmers emptied 5,000 litres of milk from a tanker at Raipuria in Jhabua district.
“Police registered a case against unidentified persons,” said Raipuria police station in-charge M.L. Bhawan.
In Delanpur village of Ratlam district, police sub-inspector Motiram Choudhary and his deputy Pawan Yadav suffered injuries in stone-pelting. Three four-wheelers were also torched, allegedly by the protesting farmers.
“The trouble started this evening when farmers stopped vendors and threw milk on the street. On getting the information, police reached the spot and tried to disperse the protesters but the farmers threw stones at them injuring two policemen,” said Ratlam sub-divisional magistrate Neha Bhartiya.
Both the injured policemen were admitted to a hospital, she added.
On Sunday, vegetables and fruits market remained closed at some places in the state, especially in the Western region.
The strike, which was mostly confined to western Madhya Pradesh had impacted the supply of milk, vegetable, fruits and other essentials at Indore, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Dhar, Shajapur, Khandwa, Neemuch and Ratlam.