Yesterday, CPI (M) general secretary Mr. Sitaram Yachuri met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss the forthcoming presidential elections which are scheduled to take place on 17th July 2017. And Arvind Kejriwal is also have agreed to join hands with the Opposition parties on both Presidential elections and a possible joint protest on the farmers’ issue in the coming days which has been started recently in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Both the leaders also discussed the possibility of Aam Aadmi Party’s participation in joint protest over the agrarian crisis. AAP is so far not a part of the united opposition. However, Arvind Kejriwal has reportedly agreed to join hands with the Opposition parties. The opposition parties are planning to highlight the agrarian distress after the police firing in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh which led to the death of 5farmers and it has brought the issue of farmer unrest into national focus.
While one-on-one discussions are on between various leaders, a structured meeting of the Opposition parties can happen very soon to arrive at a consensus on an Opposition candidate for Presidential election 2017. A senior opposition leader said, “There are several parties involved…so a consensus will take time”
Senior leaders of various opposition parties can visit Mandsaur where farmers are holding agitations for the better prices of their crops. They can visit, among other places, Mandola village in Ghaziabad, where farmers are demanding compensation for their acquired land which has been occupied by the government for a housing scheme.
The CPI (M) farmers’ wing All India Kisan Sabha has also reached to various peasant outfits, irrespective of ideological affiliations, for a meeting on 16th June to draw a common action program to highlight their demands. The agenda will be on two items, which are- remission of farm loans and the fixing of minimum support price by ensuring 50 per cent profit to the farmers.
The Chief of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (RKMS) Mr. Shivkumar Sharma is also in Delhi to involve over 60 farmers’ organizations in the current protest. Mr. Sharma is a former office-bearer of the Rashtriya Sayamsevak Sangha (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and was expelled for leading a violation in the protest in Raisen district, MP, in 2012.
Yesterday the Congress stepped up its attack on the BJP govt. in MP over police firing in Mandsaur district. The spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi and AICC secretary Mr. Patwari demanded CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation. On Thursday, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had ridden pillion on a motorcycle with Patwari to enter Madhya Pradesh from Rajasthan. In a press conference, CPI secretary Sitaram Yechury blamed it as the guilty of the central government.
