Indore, Sep 20 (PTI) Senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jitu Patwari on Friday took part in a farmers' protest in Indore in Madhya Pradesh seeking procurement price of Rs 6,000 per quintal for soybean.
As part of the party's 'Kisan Nyay Yatra' stir to support farmers, MP unit chief Patwari drove a tractor to the office of the district magistrate, with Rajya Sabha MP Singh sitting beside him.
MP is the country's largest soybean producing state but farmers were distressed due to lack of remunerative prices, the party leaders said.
"Under BJP rule, the prices of soybean have not increased but cost of production continues to rise. Therefore, farmers are demanding that the state government buy soybean at Rs 6,000 per quintal. They are not getting fair prices due to the anti-farmer policies of the Union government, which is working for oil mill owners," Singh said addressing the stir.
The Union government fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of soybean (yellow) at Rs 4,892 per quintal for 2024-25, he said, adding the government approved its purchase at MSP after farmers agitated.
The difference of Rs 1,108 between MSP and the Rs 6,000 demand must be paid by the state government, Singh added.
Patwari warned farmers will shut down mandis (agri markets) and then enter the assembly in the next session if their demands are ignored.
Earlier, police personnel put up barricades at Regional Park intersection here to stop the Congress tractor rally for over an hour, leading to severe traffic snarls on the route.
During this time, Singh and Patwari sat on the tractor amid slogans of ' jai jawan jai kisan'. Police allowed some tractors to proceed to the collector's office as part of the rally after the farmers refused to budge.
Patwari himself drove a tractor to the DM's office, while Singh sat next to him.
The two leaders addressed the gathering of farmers in front of the collectorate.