Digvijaya Singh begins weeklong hunger strike on issues of farmers, MPPEB scam

Guna: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh began a seven-day fast on Monday near the Collectorate to protest the non-payment of compensation to farmers for crop damage and for demanding a CBI probe in the MPPEB scam.

Before starting his fast, Singh along with a delegation met District Collector Sandeep Yadav and sought to know what action had been taken on a letter written by him on June 20 (with regard to compensation paid to farmers of Guna for crop damages).

Singh decided to start the fast after the Collector told him that no farmer had been paid compensation in the district since June 20.

Later talking to reporters, he charged both the state government and district administration with being insensitive.

Just as Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan does not reply to letters written to him, the district administration also does not do anything about what is written to it, he said.

The Congress leader also said he was consulting his lawyers about the Madhya Pradesh High Court's decision not to accept his letter as a petition in connection with the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam.

A division bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday directed him to file a "proper petition" in the case and not involve courts in political battles.

Before starting the fast, Singh garlanded a statue of former Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru and offered flowers before portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar.

The Rajya Sabha member said he will continue with his fight for the interests of farmers and expressed hope that the High Court will do justice in the MPPEB scam.