Chouhan, who faced heat over the violent farmer unrest in Madhya Pradesh, broke his fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former state chief minister Kailash Joshi.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended his indefinite fast, which he launched on Saturday here, for restoration of peace in his state rocked by agitation of farmers and violence.
Farmers' protests had heated up in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, as the farmers demanded fair prices for their produce and waiver of their loans.
The chief minister said that 65 per cent of the population is dependent on farming and the state can not progress without farmers.
Talking to reporters at his official residence, Chouhan said: "The state government is working for the farmers and in the past days, many important decisions have been taken to benefit them". Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure remunerative prices of farm produce. Reports say Home Minister Bhupendra Singh had initially issued a strong denial about police's involvement, but confirmed it later. He has appealed to farmers to come to Dussehra Maidan and have a dialogue with him. "Let them say whatever they want but I can not see this state engulfed in the flames of violence", Chouhan added. "So, I have decided from tomorrow I will be listening to grievances in-person", the chief minister said.
The delegation was led by activists such as Medha Patkar of National Alliance of Peoples Movements, Swami Agnivesh of Bandhua Mukti Morcha, VM Singh of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, Dr. Sunilam of Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Yogendra Yadav of Jai Kisan Andolan, Avik Saha of Jai Kisan Andolan, K. Balakrishnan of Swaraj Abhiyan, and Somnath Tripathi of Swaraj Abhiyan. Following that meeting, Chouhan told the media that he had assured the grieving family members that those responsible for the police firing would be punished, and that the families had asked him to discontinue his fast.
Nawaz Sharif leaves for Saudi amid Qatar crisis
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Monday the two sides should resolve their differences through negotiations. The Taliban opened a "political office" in Qatar in 2013, but the Qatari government later shut it down.
This unfortunately took an ugly turn earlier on Tuesday when five farmers were killed and eight others were injured in police firing. His police killed five farmers and today the death toll has gone up to six.
The chief minister also sought to put the blame of the violence on anti-social elements for provoking people.
However, other farmers' outfits stuck to their previous announcement of 10-day long strike denying any agreement with the government.
"Our Prime Minister had said that our efforts will be on to double the farmers' income by 2022", he added.
At that time, Chouhan was under tremendous pressure from the main Opposition Congress and farmers' bodies in the state to provide a relief package to farmers whose crops had been damaged by frost.
Earlier, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "This fast is nothing but a pretence... the Congress is with the farmers in their fight for their rights".
Comments