On that day, five farmers had been shot dead by the police in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, after the protests spread there from Maharashtra, where they had begun on June 1. In deep trouble, the farmers were demanding loan waivers and an increase in the minimum support price. So like everybody else writing think pieces, Sardesai asked the five men on his panel if farm loan waivers were the best solution to the Indian agrarian crisis. Could India afford it? A week later, on another show on June 12, he wondered (to four men on his panel), if waivers were just a tool for political parties to win votes. By June 13, two more farmers in Madhya Pradesh had committed suicide, and by June 20, the number stood at 17.