BhopalAugust 28, 2025 08:01 AM IST
First published on: Aug 28, 2025 at 08:01 AM IST
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Bhind BJP MLA Narendra Singh Kushwaha courted controversy after he threatened to slap Bhind District Collector Sanjeev Srivastava and called him the “biggest thief” during a protest over fertiliser shortage on Tuesday.
A video of the confrontation, which went viral on Wednesday, shows the Collector telling the MLA, “Chori nahin hone doonga (Will not allow theft).” To this, Kushwaha angrily retorts, “Sabse bada chor tu khud hai (You are the biggest thief of all).”
The video also shows the MLA raising his hand as if to hit the officer, while farmers in the background shout slogans against the administration. The MLA then staged a sit-in outside the Collector’s residence accusing officials of ignoring farmers’ distress. Srivastava refused to meet the protesters inside his residence.
As tempers flared, senior officials including Bhind SP Asit Yadav, ASP Sanjeev Pathak, and ADM L K Pandey rushed to the spot to defuse tensions. Kushwaha later spoke to Chambal Commissioner Manoj Khatri, accusing the district administration of failing to prepare for the ongoing crisis.
Farmers, who are queuing up across the state for fertilisers, have alleged that cooperative societies have been rationing only one or two sacks to them, while urea is available freely in the open market at inflated rates, claiming black marketing.
Fertiliser shortage in districts like Vidisha, Guna, Ashoknagar, Raisen, Harda, Hoshangabad, and Betul has led to protests. Scores of enraged farmers have held road blockades at Sheopur and Chhindwara, and protests have also been reported from Bhopal, Tikamgarh and Sagar.
Fertiliser shortage has also been reported from other states, including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
“Black marketing is a big issue because of which there is a shortage. The government is saying that there’s adequate fertiliser supply, but why are farmers not getting the same? The fertilisers are being sold at higher rates to farmers, and local dealers are making a profit,” Rahul Dhoot, a senior leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, told The Indian Express last week.
However, officials maintain there is no shortage. According to MP State Cooperative Marketing Federation’s B S Bhedkar, over 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of fertiliser has been allocated for August. “If there is additional demand, it will be fulfilled,” he told The Indian Express.
While Kushwaha is yet to respond to the incident, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar said the confrontation was regrettable, but exposed the truth of the state’s fertiliser shortage.
“It is extremely unfortunate that a BJP MLA tried to intimidate and assault the Bhind Collector by barging into his residence. But the truth is that farmers across the state are troubled due to the shortage of fertilisers. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his administrative officials are consistently refusing to listen to the concerns of public representatives and farmers. As a result, today, even while being in power, a BJP MLA had to reach the Collector’s residence and resort to intimidation over the fertiliser crisis,” Singhar said.