Venkaiah Naidu fires on Congress

New Delhi, June 08: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday accused the Congress of instigating and politicizing farmers' stir in Madhya Pradesh and termed Rahul Gandhi's planned visit to the violence-hit Mandsaur as "another photo opportunity".

Speaking to reporters here, Naidu also dismissed the Congress's demand that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan step down from his post in view of the deaths of five protesting farmers in police firing.

Naid said that "The Congress is instigating and politicizing the issue. It should stop doing that and behave as a responsible political party to help restore normalcy there."

He recalled a similar incident in 1998 in Betul district where 24 farmers were allegedly killed in police firing ordered by the then chief minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Naidu asked that "Did they seek the resignation of Singh when the 24 farmers were killed? Did the Congress vice president visit the victim farmers then?"

He dubbed the party vice-president's planned visit to Mandsaur, the hotbed of the ongoing farmers' agitation, as "yet another photo opportunity".