The farmers' protest in Madhya Pradesh has turned into a political slugfest on Thursday after the death of five people during the agitation, with violence hitting Shajapur district, where mobs torched several vehicles and pelted stones at police and the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
In a bid to douse farmers' anger, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a fervent appeal for peace and ordered the transfer of the district commissioners of the three violence-hit districts of Mandsaur, Ratlam and Neemuch.
"The government is always ready for talks with farmers. Please remain calm. Only a dialogue can end differences," said Chouhan.
He warned "anti-social elements" for wanting to push the state into deep trouble.
Thousands of farmers in drought-hit western Madhya Pradesh have been protesting for over a week, since June 1, demanding that authorities increase the minimum price for their crops and waive their bank loans.
The large-scale violence, especially in Pipaliamandi of Mandsaur district, on June 5 and June 6 led to the death of five farmers in police firing, spreading the violence to seven other districts.
Extending an olive branch to the farmers, Chouhan said the state government has taken a slew of measures in their interest like procuring onions for Rs 8 per kg.
"We (state government) are going to start buying Tur and Urad pulses from farmers at MSP from June 10," he said.
In a bid to calm down tempers, the MP government has already announced a slew of measures, including a loan settlement scheme for cultivators who had defaulted on repayment of farm loans. The scheme will cover around six lakh farmers with accumulated dues of Rs 6,000 crore.
The relative calm in Pipaliamandi allowed the administration to relax curfew for two hours.
"If no untoward incident takes place in the district, a decision can be taken on granting further relaxations," said District Commissioner OP Srivastava.
Internet services are also expected to be restored soon, the administration said.
Rapid Action Force (RAF) contingents have been deployed in Mandsaur.
Eleven companies of CRPF have been deployed across eight districts, including two companies (200 men) of Rapid Action Force (RAF) in Pipliamandi in Mandsaur where the farmers were killed in police firing.
Taking precautionary measures, the administration prevented Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi from visiting Mandsaur and detained him in a makeshift jail in Neemuch for a few hours on Thursday.
Gandhi was later allowed to meet the family of those killed in the police firing.
Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to say, "I'm here to meet them & will not be deterred from voicing their concerns."
Accusing Rahul for trying to exploit the protests for political gains, MP Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said, ""He (Gandhi) behaved like a college student. He was riding a bike without wearing a helmet. He was smiling and did not look concerned over farmers' problems."
Dubbing Gandhi's planned visit to the state as "another photo opportunity", Union minister Venkaiah Naidu recalled an incident in the state's Betul district on January 12, 1998, where 24 farmers died allegedly in police firing ordered by former chief minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
"Did they seek Singh's resignation when those farmers were killed? Did the Congress VP visit the farmers then?" Naidu questioned.
On a visit to Mumbai, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the farmers are being instigated to create unrest. He refused to comment on the death of the farmers, saying an investigation is underway, but accepted that security forces should not have been used against the protesting farmers.
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