DEWAS: Playing flute before a buffalo to protest the Madhya Pradesh government’s indifference proved costly for Congress workers and Daily Up Downers Association in Dewas on Sunday as the cattle went violent, injuring a few protesters. There was commotion at the protest site as the protestors ran helter-skelter to escape the buffalo’s fury.

The Congress functionaries and up-downers had gathered to protest against the delay in grant of approval by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan for operating an inter-city bus service connecting Indore and Dewas. The protesters took to the streets and garlanded a buffalo and played the flute before it. While everyone including the protesters and the passersby were enjoying the scene, the buffalo had something else in mind. Amid the cacophony, the cattle turned violent, forcing the agitators to run for cover.

The cattle hit a few Congressmen and soon there was chaos at the protest site. The injured were given first-aid and no one was serious, said a local Congress functionary. Dewas district Congress president Manoj Rajani said, “We were left with no option but to highlight to the public how the government was being indifferent to the long-pending public demand.”

Congress workers and members of the Daily Up Downers Associations have been regularly protesting since the past two weeks to press their demand to expedite the work of plying buses between Dewas and Indore. Mayor Subhas Sharma said the state government has approved the project to run intercity buses between the two cities for daily commuters and that the project will be implemented soon.

Sharma said mandatory procedures such as permits, work order, bus stands and other arrangements are needed for plying buses and these processes take time.

