Mandsaur agitation: Rahul Gandhi says govt at war with farmers, Congress calls bandh

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre on Tuesday of waging a war against the country's farmers.

"In Bharatiya Janata Party's new India, our farmers get the bullets when they ask for their rights. This government is at war with the farmers of our country," the Congress leader tweeted.

His comments came after three farmers were killed and several others injured in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur districtafter police opened fire during a protest to demand better prices in the drought-ravaged region that clocks among India's highest farm suicide rates.

Angry farmers ransacked and set ablaze a police station and thrashed several security personnel after the firing as the administration rushed extra forces and withdrew internet services to tamp down on social media rumours fanning violence.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said the party has called for a bandh in support of protesting farmers.

Hundreds of farmers had gathered in the district, 350 kilometres from state capital Bhopal, as part of their week-long demonstration for higher crop prices that cover their input costs, a loan waiver and a farm package to tide over losses incurred by the drought.