Congress Burns CM Mohan Yadav's Effigy In MP's Alirajpur Over Crop Damage, Power Cuts; Demands Drought-Hit Status

Aalirajpur (Madhya Pradesh): An effigy of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav was burnt by Congress workers at Cinema Square on Tuesday during a protest over crop damage caused by scanty rainfall and unannounced power cuts.

Hundreds of workers, led by former district Congress president Mahesh Patel and Omprakash Rathore, raised slogans before marching to the collector's office with drums and submitting a memorandum to collector Neetu Mathur.

Patel said poor rainfall had damaged standing crops and demanded that the district be declared drought-hit and farmers given immediate relief.

He alleged, "Under BJP rule, officials are happy, and the public is distressed." He also alleged development work had stalled due to factionalism between the district's minister in charge and the cabinet minister.

Patel warned of further protests if drought-hit status was not granted and power cuts continued. Rathore alleged Tribal farmers were being ignored, while Tarun Mandloi said prolonged outages were affecting residents and agriculture.

The memorandum sought drought-hit status, compensation for affected farmers and a permanent solution to the electricity problem.

Youth Congress district president Pushpraj Patel, Kailash Chauhan, Rajendra Tawli, Suresh Sarda, Harish Bhabhar and Khurshid Diwan were among those present.

300 farmers protest power cuts at Bakaner grid

BAKANER: Around 300 farmers from Bakaner and nearby villages gathered at the Bakaner power grid at 1 am on Monday to protest electricity cuts.

They alleged that Executive Engineer Kalam Singh Tadwal behaved rudely and failed to provide satisfactory answers. Farmers said no senior official arrived to meet them until morning.

Farmers from Mirzapur, Kuwali, Jalkheda, Barda, Ratwa, Malangaon, Ajanta and Pipriman participated in the protest.

Regional MLA Hiralal Alawa reached the site and spoke to officials. He warned that if scheduled power cuts continued during the Navratri celebrations, he would join farmers in a larger agitation. District Panchayat member Shivram Kannoj also intervened.

SDM Pramod Gurjar spoke to the farmers and instructed the executive engineer to address their concerns cordially.

Tadwal told the media that his mobile phone had run out of charge, preventing communication. He said officials had been asked to avoid power cuts between 6 pm and 1 am.

Farmers protest rising electricity bills

ALOT: Farmers from several villages submitted a memorandum at the electricity department’s divisional office, protesting bills of up to Rs 24,000 for running three-horsepower motors.

Led by BJP Mandal president Dilip Singh Dodia, they received support from MP representative Dinesh Kothari. Executive engineer Mahendra Maida assured them of an investigation and promised bill correction if officials found any errors.