They were words that Rekha Bai had been waiting to hear for a long time from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who reached Mandsaur on Wednesday morning, eight days after five farmers were killed in a police firing. The CM had come to Mandsaur to meet some of the family members of those who had died in the 10-day farmers’ agitation.
“I am personally looking into the matter and the culprits will not be spared,” the Chief Minister said. Mr. Chouhan addressed Rekha Bai and other women present at the house of Durgalal Dhakad, whose 32-year-old son Ghanshyam, a resident of the Badwan village, was allegedly beaten up by the police in the violence-hit Mandsaur district on June 6. He was shifted to Indore’s MY Hospital where he breathed his last. He was the sixth farmer to die in the agitation. Five other farmers died during police firing.
Rekha Bai reportedly asked the CM, “How can you order the police to fire bullets?” To this, the Chief Minister and his officials kept mum, a senior official told this newspaper. But Mr. Chouhan reiterated that he was personally looking into the matter and that the culprits would not be spared.
Chouhan’s second stop over was village Lodh. Here, he met Mangilal, father of deceased farmer Satyanarayan, who was killed in the police firing. The CM told the bereaved family that the State government was standing with them. The CM reportedly told Mangilal that his land would be cleared of mortgage, and that the government had sanctioned an amount of ₹ 1 crore as compensation, which would be deposited in a bank account.
Mr. Chouhan also paid a visit to Pipliya Mandi at noon and met the victims whose shops and houses were burned down on June 6. He assured compensation for property damaged during the farmers’ agitation.
Meanwhile, Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia began his 72-hour ‘Satyagraha’ in Bhopal to protest for the rights of farmers — a move aimed at countering the ‘fast for peace’ by Chief Minister Chouhan.
