LoP Singhar criticises MP govt over fertiliser crisis, police action on farmers

Bhopal: Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh, Umang Singhar, on Thursday hit out at the state government over alleged fertiliser mismanagement and police lathi-charges on farmers, saying the crisis was a result of poor planning rather than a shortage of supply.

Addressing a press conference in Bhopal, Singhar cited figures from the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers and Lok Sabha data (July 25, 2025) to assert that Madhya Pradesh had adequate stocks of urea and DAP over the last three years, with a surplus of 16.25 LMT urea and 7.11 LMT DAP. Monthly bulletins for May–June 2025 also showed availability exceeding consumption, he said.

Despite this, farmers in Bhind (September 8) and Rewa (September 2) faced long queues and police lathi-charges while waiting for fertiliser, Singhar noted. “The issue is not scarcity but the government’s failure in distribution and management,” he added.

Highlighting agriculture’s contribution of over 45% to the state economy, Singhar accused the ruling BJP of neglecting the farm sector despite Madhya Pradesh being the country’s second-largest consumer of fertilisers. He blamed the Agriculture, Cooperation, and Agro Industries departments for lack of coordination and failure to curb black-marketing, despite having powers under the Essential Commodities Act and Fertiliser Control Order.

Taking on BJP leadership, he remarked: “With a Rs 1.5 lakh crore budget and the ministry under JP Nadda, yet farmers are beaten for fertilisers. Mohan Yadav, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and JP Nadda together have failed to solve farmers’ crisis—or perhaps they lack coordination.”