Following in the footsteps of Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday observed a four-hour token fast here in protest against the Centre’s “indifferent” approach towards the farmers of the state.
Chouhan alleged that the Centre wasn’t helping the farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hail storms.
“We will go to Delhi and apprise the Union government of our situation. I have not slept for the last three nights because of this calamity. The Centre should provide a special relief package of `5,000 crore to the state to deal with it,” Chouhan said.
He said the state government had already allotted Rs 2,000 crore for providing relief to the farmers.
In the recent past, both Nitish and Kejriwal staged sit-ins to highlight the Centre’s alleged apathy towards their state governments on different issues.
The fast, which was termed a “drama” by Congress leader Satyadev Katare, was a part of the statewide bandh called by the BJP.
However, some Bhopal residents were not impressed by the four-hour fast.
“I don’t understand the logic behind this so-called four-hour fast. Five to six hours is the normal duration between two meals. What is the Chief Minister trying to convey?” said Palash Patel, 24, a resident of Shivaji Nagar said.
Pallavi Chowksey, who runs an education consultancy in city’s New Market area where Chouhan and his cabinet colleagues had sat on the fast, too dismissed it as a farce. “With the elections approaching, more such fasts are going to be taken up by political leaders,” she said.
Meanwhile, the AAP lodged a complaint with the Election commission and the Bhopal Collector against the fast and the bandh.