Talking to media in Bhopal he said farmers from Madhya Pradesh who were staging a dharna in Palwal were shifted from there but soon they will assemble in Palwal again.

One of the factors which is rallying farmers again is the concerted effort being made by the state government to win them over. The other day Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan by a single click transferred Rs. 400 crore in the accounts of 20 lakh farmers.

Kakkaji during his interaction with journalists urged the centre to arrest Deep Sindhu, whose organisation is accused of hoisting the ‘Nishan Sahib’ at the Red Fort on January 26, instead of targeting farmers who were not involved in the incident.

Kakkaji said, “The ‘Kisan Andolan’ is continuing at different border points of Delhi, while the one at Palwal has been shifted, The agitation is continuing at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders in the National Capital Region(NCR), Kakkaji said after the Republic Day chaos, Farmers from Madhya Pradesh, who were staging a dharna in Paliwal were shifted. “Soon they will assemble in Paliwal again”, he said.

Kakkaji said that all farmer organisations are “united for the cause” and are carrying out the agitation with renewed vigor. He also said that there are “photos of Deep Sidhu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that goes to show his proximity to the present government. “We had warned the Union government in advance about certain elements who might cause havoc on Republic day”, Kakkji said.

“Deep Sidhu is the master mind of the whole episode and should be booked”, Kakkaji said. He said that there is a conspiracy to malign the ‘Kisan Andolan’. “We have started collecting evidences and will expose these forces”, he added. “We have warned the government in advance about these elements who might play mischief on Republic Day”, he said.

“It is difficult to jump one traffic light in Delhi but those who reached the Red Fort crossed many and were not stopped. In fact, they were allowed to reach there”, Kakkaji alleged. The farmer leader said that no case was registered against him by Delhi Police but BJP and RSS in MP are trying to influence cops to file cases against him.

Addressing the state level programme organised for the transfer of benefits worth 400 crore by a single click to 20 lakh farmers of the state under the Chief Minister Kisan Kalyan Yojana in Sagar, Chouhan said more development plans would be chalked out as per need for future.

Chouhan said that Rs 400 crore will be deposited in February and March in accounts of farmers. On this occasion, he also performed bhoomipoojan and dedicated development works worth Rs 430 crore.

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started the Pradhan Mantri Kisansamman Nidhi Yojana of depositing Rs 6,000 each to farmers' accounts. “The Congress government did not send the list of farmers to the Centre, but soon after coming to power we send a list of 78 lakh farmers. We also decided to provide an additional assistance of Rs 4,000 per annum to the farmers in two installments.

The government has not discriminated against any farmer in extending the benefit, whether small or marginal farmer all have benefitted”, Chouhan said. Stating that despite the tight fiscal condition of the state, a sum of Rs 85,000 crore was deposited in the account of farmers and other beneficiaries under different schemes.

Starting that Sambal Yojana is the strength of the poor, Chouhan said state government would also bear the fee for medical and engineering students under the scheme.

Chouhan criticised the erstwhile Kamal Nath government for discontinuing the scheme. Soon mass marriages under Mukhya Mantri Kanyadaan scheme will start again and about two crore Ayushman cards have been made in the state to cover for their medical emergencies, he said.

Referring to the new farm laws, Chouhan said the Prime Minister has enacted them in the interest of farmers. “Rumours and speculations about shutting down mandis are baseless and on the contrary mandi fees have been slashed”, he said.

On the occasion, Chouhan interacted virtually with farmers of Jabalpur, Guna and other district and said procurement of wheat, gram and lentils on support price will start in the state from March 15.

Besides various farmers’ organizations Congress held demonstrations in all the districts of the state. A massive demonstration was held in Bhopal. It was led by Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. Demonstrators were lathi charged. Police also used teargas to disperse them when they tried to march towards Chief Minister’s residence. Originally Congress planned to gherao Raj Bhavan. Several partymen including Digvijaya Singh were arrested. Farmers in various places are holding demonstrations. Only yesterday farmers riding their tractors held demonstration in Begamganj, a small town about 150 KMs from Bhopal.
(IPA Service)