Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that the Centre and state governments were ‘sensitive’ to farmers' issues and was trying to address them with due seriousness.
Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Singh said that ‘farmers are being instigated to create unrest’.
"I am from a village and the son of a farmer. I have also been the agriculture minister. Let me assure you that the Centre and state governments are trying to do everything possible," Singh said.
He said that the welfare of the farming community and agriculture topped the list of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre was willing to extend whatever help was required by the states.
The Minister's comments came a day after police shot dead five farmers at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.
Singh also acknowledged that the farmers were ‘a big pillar of our society and are the biggest producers and consumers’.
He said that both Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were seized of the issue and were working towards providing succour to the agitating farmers.
Regarding the violence in Madhya Pradesh, he guardedly said, "I have received some information that some powers have attempted to instigate and the CM has assured a probe into it."
The Home Minister said that the government ‘will not do anything that breaks the faith of farmers and the common man’.
"There is information that some people were involved in instigating violence," he said.
Meanwhile, MP Chief Minister Chouhan urged the farmers to maintain peace and vowed to resolve the crisis through talks.
He said that anti-social elements trying to inject instability would be dealt with strictly.
Senior BJP leader and Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu described Rahul’s visit to Mandsaur as ‘another photo opportunity’.
Another Union Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, dubbed the Congress leader’s decision to visit Mandsaur as ‘irresponsible’.
The farmers agitation in Madhya Pradesh entered the eighth day on Thursday. On Tuesday, police fired at farmers after they reportedly resorted to violence in Mandsaur district. The Madhya Pradesh government said that five farmers were killed in police firing but the leaders of farmer groups claim eight died.
The farmers want their loans to be written off and their produce to be bought at a fair price by the government.
