Madhya Pradesh farmers' protest: Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh slams Opposition over yoga row

A day after dragging himself into controversy, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Friday slammed the Opposition for using the farmers' protests to bring down the government.

"Even on Thursday, I had told that the Mandsaur incident was unfortunate. But those using this opportunity for politics are neither doing good to the farmer nor the country," Singh said.

Singh drew criticism on Thursday after he was spotted at a yoga conference while the farmer agitation in Madhya Pradesh had entered its eighth day.

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When the reporters questioned Singh over the farmers' unrest in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, Singh had responded by saying that yoga was the ultimate solution.

File image of Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh (right) performing Yoga with Baba Ramdev (left). PTI

Criticising Congress' move of setting foot in the farmers' violent protest in Mandsaur, he said, "The video of Congress MLA Shakuntalaji is in front of you. They are provoking people to set fire to the police station. Congress leaders have only come to add fuel to the fire."

The union minister also slammed the Opposition for accusing the central government of ignoring the plight of the common man.

"The politicians in Bihar should self-examine. What they do is politics of indulgence. If we practice yoga, then it is a problem. These are the same leaders who sit on the Congress' lap," he said.

Singh claimed that Rahul Gandhi had done more harm than good to Congress by visiting Mandsaur. "We (BJP) are being caught by the party which has stung the country for 60 years. It is a good thing that Gandhi made Congress drown," he said.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been protesting since 1 June demanding loan waivers and fair prices for their produce. The agitation took a violent turn after five farmers were killed in police firing.

Singh, however, spoke favouring the Madhya Pradesh government. "Shivraj Singh Chauhan is a chief minister who has worked a lot for the benefit of farmers. Madhya Pradesh is the first state where the state government carries a four percent interest rate on farm loans, " he added.