Firing on agitating farmers in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday sharpened political faultlines, with the opposition Congress and even some NDA allies accusing the BJP-ruled Centre and State governments of ignoring the nationwide agricultural distress. Five farmers were killed when the police allegedly opened fire in Mandsaur.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government said it would come out with a farm-loan waiver, one of the demands of farmers agitating in the State. At the same time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the farmer agitation was being “milked” by some political leaders.

The Congress and the Left parties mounted a sharp attack on the BJP. “The government is at war with the farmers of our country,” said Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in a tweet, quoting news reports about the alleged killing of farmers in MP.

“BJP ke new India mein haq mangne par hamare anndataon ko goli milti hai (In BJP’s new India, the farmers get shot for asking for their rights),” Gandhi added.

Kamal Nath, the Congress MP from Chhindwara said: “The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government opened fire on unarmed farmers who were protesting peacefully… Their sacrifice will not go waste.”

The CPI(M) farmers’ wing, All India Kisan Sabha, demanded a judicial enquiry into the Mandsaur firing and hailed the start of a “historic united movement” of farmers against the “consistent denial of remunerative prices and overall agricultural distress”.

The agitation in Maharashtra is also supported by BJP allies Shiv Sena and Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana (SSS).

Speaking to BusinessLine , SSS leader and MP Raju Shetty said: “Radha Mohan Singh (Agriculture Minister) and Ram Vilas Paswan (Food Minister) have destroyed agriculture in India. This was a party (the BJP) that promised 50 per cent above the input cost as calculation for MSP to the farmer. The price for every major agriculture produce item has, in fact, gone down by 50 per cent in the last two years. Farmers are committing suicide.”

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