On Thursday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been detained at the Neemuch border while on his way to violence-hit Mandsaur. He was to meet families of five people who died in police firing during farmers’ protests on Tuesday. Rahul Gandhi on Thursday left Delhi for Mandsaur even as the local police made it clear that he will not be allowed to enter the district.
Stopped by the police en route, the Congress vice president swapped his car for a bike and finally set out on foot. Around 3 km from the border of the district, the Congress leaders were stopped again. That is where he got off the bike and started a brisk walk, ring-fenced by the elite Special Protection Group, with Congress workers shouting slogans. He was seen in visuals arguing heatedly with policemen. Gandhi has been temporarily taken to jail.
Significantly, the farmers’ agitation has intensified in other parts of the country with around 4,000 villagers taking to the streets in Maharashtra’s Solapur where a farmer hanged himself. The farmers’ union of the Congress is also staging a protest at the Cantonment Railway Station in Bengaluru.
