Bhopal: The government was shaken by the death of five persons in Mandsaur in police firing after violence broke out in the city. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was to perform bhoomi pujan of a major project in the presence of union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Anantha Kumar and Narendra Singh Tomar at Gwalior on Tuesday. After the incident, the CM cancelled all his programmes and till late in the night he was immersed in discussions with senior police and administrative officers on how to deal with the situation.
Chouhan also convened an emergency meeting of the ministers and discussed the law and order situation in the state and the farmers’ agitation with them. He asked the ministers to ensure that peace and order prevails in all districts. The bandh call given by the peasant organisations and Congress on Wednesday was also discussed. It was also decided that the Congress should be blamed for the lawlessness and violence. The ministers said that anti-social elements have infiltrated into the farmers’ organisations and they were creating trouble. Besides the Congress, others are also working against the government.
Chouhan told the ministers that what his government had done for the farmers was not done by any other government. He said a message should go out to the farmers that the government was with them.
Centre seeks explanation
After the firing deaths, the PMO, Union home ministry and agriculture ministry have sought explanation from the state government. At the directive of the PMO, the home ministry has demanded a lowdown on the entire chain of events. The agriculture ministry wants to know from the state government what announcements have been made about the farmers and the present status of their protest.