Farmers' death anniversary: Uneasy calm in Mandsaur ahead of Rahul's rally

In Mandsaur and Pipliyamandi towns, nearly 225 km from Indore, elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to prevent a rerun of last year

Current Affairs News: An uneasy calm prevailed in Mandsaur town on Tuesday on the eve of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s public rally to mark the first anniversary of the police firing that killed five farmers here last year.

While plummeting onion prices triggered the protests in June 2017, the discontent of farmers this year has been due to the sharp drop in garlic rates – a key intercrop during the lean harvest season.

In Mandsaur and Pipliyamandi towns, nearly 225 km from Indore, elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to prevent a rerun of last year.

“I will ,ake a quiet dash for the exit after the rally gets over. Who knows what might happen once the leaders leave the venue,” said Noor Mohammed, as he sipped his cup of tea at a stall in Pipliyamandi.

Pipliyamandi, near Mandsaur town, was the scene of pitched battles between the police and agitating farmers last year. Rahi Singh, another local, echoed Mohammed as he joined in the conversation: “Nobody here wants a repeat of last year’s violence.”

The rally venue is the sprawling government school ground in Pipliyamandi, barely a few kilometres from the town’s main thoroughfare that witnessed the violence last year.

Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh legislator Jitu Patwari, along with former Lok Sabha member Meenakshi Natarajan, are overseeing preparations for the rally.

Hoardings and banners showing Rahul wearing a headgear, typical of what farmers of the region wear, dot the roads and the venue. Posters of Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath can also be seen on the streets.

Banners showcase not just UPA government’s farmer friendly initiatives, but also Rajiv Gandhi’s implementation of panchayati raj and Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation, have been put up.

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