The opposition Congress in Gujarat on Tuesday upped its protest against the BJP government over the issue of loan waiver for farmers.
The protest by the party comes a few days after pro-quota leader Hardik Patel ended his indefinite hunger strike. One of his demands was loan waiver.
The police foiled their attempt to 'gherao' the Gujarat state assembly building. Congress in-charge for Gujarat Rajiv Satav, opposition leader in the state assembly Paresh Dhanani, state Congress president Amit Chavda and former state party president Arjun Modhwadia and a host of party leaders were detained as they marched towards the building. They were later released.
The first day of the two-day monsoon session of the Gujarat assembly had ended on Tuesday after paying condolences to late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Before marching towards the assembly building, the Congress leaders addressed a rally in Gandhinagar.
During his address, Satav accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of helping only the businessmen and ignoring farmers. "The entire country had high hopes from Modi when he assumed office in 2014. But even four-and-a-half years later, he has failed to fulfil any of his poll promises. If Congress governments in Punjab and other states can waive loans, why not the Gujarat government?" he asked.
Dhanani said on the second day of the assembly on Wednesday, they would raise farmers' issues in the house. He also sought answers from the state government over the alleged groundnut scam.
"Around 300 Congress workers were detained when they tried to reach the assembly complex. They were later released," an official from Gandhinagar police control room said.
According to police, the party was not granted permission to take out a rally.
"The permission was only for the gathering at Satyagrah Chhavni and not for the rally," a police official said.
One police personnel and a couple of Congress workers were injured when the police tried to prevent the workers from heading towards the assembly building. Bricks were thrown at the police force and a few Congress workers also deflated tires of police vehicles.
After being released, Chavda said although the party workers could not 'gherao' the assembly, the programme was a success. He said that they would continue the agitation till the state government waived the loans of farmers.
Meanwhile, worried over the increasing protests to highlight the problems faced by farmers, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday said in two days, they would make an important announcement that would benefit the farmers.
"In the coming days, our government will announce a new scheme for the benefit of farmers. Though the announcement was supposed to be made today, we have delayed it as the assembly is in session," Patel said.
Commenting on the protest rally organised by the Congress, Patel alleged that the opposition party did nothing for farmers when it was in power in the state before 1995.
"Congress leaders can always meet us to make a representation about the farmers' issues. But they are not doing that. They are only interested in politicising the issue keeping in mind the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," Patel said.
"During the Congress rule, protesting farmers had been shot dead. But such incidents never happened in our 22-years of rule. Our government has launched several pro-farmer schemes, such as drip irrigation, installation of gates on Sardar Sarovar dam and laying of canal network for irrigation," he said.
(with PTI inputs)
