A desperado is defined as someone with no hope who is made reckless by despair. At the moment, this label fits perfectly on the Indian National Congress (INC), a ‘national’ party which suffered a precipitous 78% decline in national parliament seats after the 2014 general elections. And the party has stumbled from one humiliating defeat after another in state assembly elections since, with Punjab being the sole exception – that victory achieved due to a strong local leader and in spite of a insipid, discredited national leadership.
With the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and their shambolic coterie showing no sign of loosening their vice-like grip on the party apparatus, Congress has nothing constructive to offer to the voter. And so the party is left with only its now traditional get-out-of-jail cards of fomenting social unrest by widening Hindu caste/regional fault-lines, inflaming minority victim-hood and globally defaming the NDA Government using its media/intelligentsia ecosystem.
In Feb 2016, Haryana was rocked by the violent Jat reservation agitation in which people 30 died and which caused loss amounting to Rs. 34,000 crore. The hidden hand of the Congress and its ex-Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda behind the violence soon became clear, as we had exposed in this article. The damning evidence came in the form of a leaked audio tape of Hooda’s political advisor, Professor Virender, asking a ‘Captain’ (name unconfirmed but purportedly the spokesperson of the Dalal Khap Chaurasi) to stir up trouble in more areas while commending the ‘work’ achieved in Hooda’s home constituency.
Now, the pattern is repeating in another non-Congress ruled ruled state i.e. Madhya Pradesh. What began as a farmers’ agitation for better crop prices and debt relief soon descended into mindless violence with Pipliamandi of Mandsaur district bearing the brunt – rioters there attacked police officials, pelted stones, beat up the district collector, torched vehicles and warehouses and looted shops and toll booths. Five people were killed in police firing to control the rampaging mob on 6 June, while dozens of police personnel have been injured in the violence.
In the last week, multiple pieces of audio-video evidence has emerged which shows the direct involvement of Congress MLAs and local leaders in inciting mobs and instigating violence.
1.) DP Dhakar, a local Congress leader from Ratlam, is said to be a key player in instigating the violent stir. He was caught on camera telling a crowd, “Have the courage to set any vehicle on fire that comes in your way. ******* (expletive), we will face whatever happens. No ifs and buts, don’t be scared of police. If I get arrested tomorrow, then you will be responsible (to avenge my arrest) – we don’t need those who are still in two minds. Everything is fair in war.” Dhakar is reportedly missing since the firing incident took place.
2.) Shakuntla Khatik, Congress MLA from Karera, was caught on video telling protesters to burn down a police station in Shivpuri district while a police officer attempts to pacify her. “Thaane mein aag laga do, thaane mein aag laga do” (burn down the police station, burn down the police station)” Khatik is heard saying in the video as people raise slogans against the government in the background.
3.) Congress MLA from Rau seat, Jeetu Patwari, was seen having an altercation with Indore SDM Sandeep Soni. The officer accuses Patwari of breaking his promise to keep peace in the Chowkram Mandi in Indore.
4.) Congress leader Dilip Mishra, while addressing a condolence gathering for farmers who lost their lives in the violence, said, “The government of Madhya Pradesh is openly killing democracy. So, I appeal to the affected people, the farmers and their families to fire bullets on the government.”
This India Today video captures the inflammatory words and actions of the 4 Congress leaders mentioned above –
This tweet captures how influential sections of MSM have suppressed the news of multiple Congress leaders inciting violence in Madhya Pradesh
Have to agree. We ARE in an Emergency. Print editions of HT, IE, and TOI have totally BLANKED OUT this news of a Cong MLA inciting violence. pic.twitter.com/UqRFmy6av9
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) June 10, 2017
Is farmer distress in MP really so high?
In his article ‘No proof required: Just why are farmers rioting?’, economist Surjit Bhalla, no fan of RSS and Hindutva as the latter part of his article demonstrates, tries to understand the rationale behind farmer unrest in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. His conclusion – “It is politics that best explains the phenomena of farmer riots amidst growing prosperity.”
Madhya Pradesh is one of the major success stories in agriculture sector in the whole of Bharat. A state which till a decade back had the infamous BIMARU (Hindi belt states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) tag to underscore their economic ‘sickness’, underwent a dramatic change of fortune almost completely driven by a spurt in agricultural growth.
Agriculture in Madhya Pradesh (MP) grew at 9.7 per cent per annum during the decade long period between 2005-06 and 2014-15. The last five years have been even more spectacular when agricultural growth rate stood at 14.2 per cent per annum. Recently, the Business Standard reported that farmers in MP have seen their cumulative income rise by 32 per cent in the past one year.
What we are witnessing in Madhya Pradesh is no organic outburst of citizens’ anger. Unlike the India Against Corruption movement which saw mass participation by ordinary citizens disgusted at the big-ticket corruption of UPA regime, this violence in MP is a cynical manifestation of one party’s desperation to stay politically relevant.
But one attribute of Congress remains intact to this day – the art of political doublespeak. “Congress subscribes to Mahatma Gandhi’s tenet of non-violence and the party can never be involved in any kind of violence,” state Congress chief Arun Yadav and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ajay Singh said at a recent press conference in Bhopal.
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