62 farmers' organisations to kick off nationwide demonstration to press for their demands

NEW DELHI: Farmers' agitation which was till now primarily confined to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh is all set to reach the rest part of the country. Adding to the woes of BJP-led Central Government, 62 farmers' organisations will hold nationwide demonstration from Sunday, June 11 as decided at the meeting held in Delhi a day before. From June 11-15, farmers will do peaceful protests wearing black band but on June 16, there will be nationwide highway blockades from 12 noon to 3 pm. Next meeting of farmers is scheduled to be held on June 19. Farmers have challenge to garner support from other parts of country and also to avoid violence during demonstrations. After meeting Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his 'peace fast', the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, which is part of the farmers' stir met said it would continue with the agitation till their demands are met. Earlier, the farmers' bodies had declared that the stir would last 10 days(till today). Sangh state president Dev Narayan Patel after meeting CM said, "We asked him to waive the loans of the farmers and pressed for the minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce."Our meeting with Chief Minister was cordial, but we will continue our agitation till our demands are met," he declared. Maharashtra farmers' bodies have already announced to hold protest on June 12 and rail roko andolan on June 13. Meanwhile, farmers in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan organised indefinite shutdown on Saturday which cautioned Police. In Gujarat, Congress has threatened that if demands of farmers here are not met soon, they too will begin a statewide agitation. Congress is having an aggressive approach regarding farmers' issue ahead of state polls. Meanwhile, CM Chouhan launched an indefinite fast in Bhopal on Saturday with an appeal for peace and met farmer leaders, but failed to reach a compromise, while the opposition Congress dismissed it as mere "drama". No major violence was reported from the state and curfew was lifted from three of the four police station areas in Mandsaur district, the epicentre of the farmers' agitation