A 65-year-old farmer, Shankarlal Patidar, rolled through the corridors of the Mandsaur collectorate in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday with folded hands, lamenting, “What will I do now?” Patidar alleged that his land had been unlawfully occupied by the land mafia.
Following the viral video of his protest, the Congress party criticized the government for its perceived anti-farmer stance, while the BJP accused the farmer of staging a “drama.” Mandsaur collector Dileep Yadav stated that they had investigated Patidar’s claims and found that he was illegally occupying land that had already been sold.
Patidar had attended the collector’s public hearing on Tuesday to protest against the encroachment on his agricultural land. He claimed to have filed multiple complaints with authorities and even wrote to the President, Prime Minister, and Chief Minister without receiving assistance.
Insisting that the land rightfully belonged to him, Patidar told local media, “The land is in my possession, but some people are trying to encroach upon it. I have been seeking the administration’s help to protect my land.”
However, Collector Yadav refuted his claim, stating that Patidar owned a 1.2-hectare plot of land but was occupying an adjacent 1.76-hectare plot illegally. This second plot had been sold to Ashwini Deshmukh in 2010, and the property registration had been completed, according to district officials.
Yadav confirmed that the administration’s investigation had revealed Patidar’s illegal occupation of the sold property. He advised the farmer to pursue legal recourse through civil court procedures to resolve his claim.
State Congress chief Jitu Patwari criticized the BJP government, accusing them of continuing their hostility towards farmers. In response, BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja countered by accusing Congress of spreading misinformation. Saluja claimed that Patidar had rightful possession of his own land but staged a spectacle to maintain illegal control over an adjacent plot that his family members had already sold.
