Asking MP farmers to sign surety bond a preventive step: Minister

Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh), May 29 (IANS) In the backdrop of violence by some anti-social elements during the farmers' agitation in Mandsaur last year, a Union Minister on Tuesday justified as a precautionary step the move to get surety bonds signed by the farmers ahead of their proposed agitation from June 1 to 10.

Talking to media persons here, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar said: "Asking the farmers in Mandsaur to sign surety bonds is a precautionary step as anti-social elements had played havoc with law and order during their previous agitation."

Mandsaur being a sensitive area, the government would not like to see a repeat of what happened last year, Tomar said.

"There is no anti-establishment wave in Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is popular because of his good work, and the coming Assembly polls will once again see the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returning to power in the state on its own," he said.