Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday accused the Congress of conspiring to instigate violence in Mandsaur, where five farmers were allegedly killed in police firing, and dubbed its Vice President Rahul Gandhi's decision to visit the state as part of his "irresponsible behaviour".
"Those forces are conspiring which don't want to see Madhya Pradesh moving ahead. Those forces are conspiring which don't want to see farmers being prosperous. This was proved today when we saw Rahul Gandhi trying to visit Mandsaur. Under such circumstances, he is behaving irresponsibly. This can't be described as right conduct," Tomar told NDTV news channel.
"It can never be imagined that Congress will instigate violence by involving itself directly," the minister responded when he was asked about the events at Mandsaur.
Tomar, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, also accused the Congress party of demeaning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
"At least 30 farmers were killed in police firing in Betul when the Congress was in power. Neither Congress President Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi or any other leader visited the state. Today, they are going there only to disturb and demean the state government. The Congress is going to suffer huge losses in the future," he said.
The minister said the farmers were earlier convinced by the state administration to refrain from protest and they had agreed.
"But a conspiracy was hatched on June 5-6 and in the name of farmers the state was thrown into a cycle of violence," Tomar said.
--IANS
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