Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): About 100 farmers gathered in Ujjain on Wednesday morning to protest against the government’s land pooling scheme.
Protesters raised slogans against the district administration and police, criticising them for targeting Chaturvedi.
The Ujjain police reportedly detained Rashtriya Janhit Dal president Abhay Jain and two other party members late Tuesday night.
Check out the protest video below :
The protest was led by the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti.
They were joined by Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar, City Congress Committee President Mukesh Bhati, and Leader of Opposition in the Ujjain Municipal Corporation, Ravi Rai.
The farmers and leaders went to the Bhairavgarh residence of senior BJP leader and prominent agitator Surendra Chaturvedi, who had been placed under house arrest by the police earlier in the day.
Surprisingly, even though Chaturvedi is a BJP leader, Congress leaders came to his support and led the demonstration.
Chaturvedi is said to own around 100 bighas of land in the Simhastha camp area, which is now under threat of being acquired through the land pooling scheme.
The Bar Association President Om Sarwan also expressed anger and warned that hundreds of lawyers might surround the Police Control Room in protest. Following growing pressure, the police withdrew their forces from Chaturvedi’s house around 11:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Ujjain police reportedly detained Rashtriya Janhit Dal president Abhay Jain and two other party members late Tuesday night. They were planning to join the farmers’ protest.
The party’s vice president even wrote a letter to the Mahakal police station asking for their whereabouts.
Due to the protest, the district administration stopped protocol darshan at the Mahakaleshwar temple until 12 noon on Wednesday.
The farmers are opposing the administration’s decision to acquire 2,000 hectares of their land. Under the land pooling scheme, land is collected from multiple owners, and only part of it is returned after development. The rest is used for roads and public infrastructure.
