BENGALURU: With farmers in Karnataka and in several north Indian states on the war path, both Congress and BJP are at a loss at devising an effective strategy for the Lok Sabha elections.
Hours after chief minister Siddaramaiah presented his budget, farmer organisations in Karnataka kicked off an agitation claiming the budget had little for them and “nothing” to alleviate their distress from drought.
Members of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) held protests in all 236 drought-hit taluks on Friday even as Siddaramaiah was reading out his budget proposals. Some farmers later gheraoed agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy in Bengaluru.
“Both the Karnataka and central govts are behaving as if there is no drought in the state,” said GC Bayya Reddy, KPRS president. “While the state budget has not even mentioned drought, the Union government has been indifferent to our distress and has not granted drought relief from NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund).”
HR Basavarajappa, KRRS president, said farmer organisations had requested Siddaramaiah to waive crop loans, but there was no mention of it in his budget.
Reddy said all farmers organisations will meet this week and plan agitations in all villages. “This is the right time to put pressure on both parties. They should roll out relief measures before asking for votes from farmers,” said Reddy.
NDRF norms prescribe input subsidy (compensation for crop loss) at Rs 8,500 per hectare in rainfed areas and Rs 17,000 per hectare if the land is irrigated. But droughtaffected farmers are seeking Rs 25,000 per hectare. While the BJP-led central govt has not released funds despite several requests from the state govt — a central inter-ministerial team had also assessed the situation last year — the Congress-led state govt has granted compensation of Rs 2,000 to some 32 lakh distressed farmers.
Both Congress and BJP are trying to turn the scenario into an election issue by blaming each other. Congress has already launched a campaign highlighting the “injustice meted out by the Centre to Karnataka” which will be their main election theme.
“It is the Centre’s duty to grant relief from NDRF,” said Chaluvarayaswamy. “We will do our best to help our farmers. I will request the CM to release the second instalment of relief, but we appeal to farmers to punish BJP.”
On the other hand, BJP functionaries said they will reach out to farmers with the message that the Congress govt has not granted drought relief because it has mishandled the state’s finances and emptied the exchequer.
“While govts in all drought-hit states have granted drought relief without depending on the Centre, the Karnataka government has failed to do so,” said BY Vijayendra, BJP state president.
Vijayendra, who was in Delhi to attend BJP’s national executive meeting, apprised central functionaries of the political scenario in Karnataka. He said central BJP functionaries will begin visiting Karnataka soon. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to visit Bengaluru this week and make a significant announcement.
Hours after chief minister Siddaramaiah presented his budget, farmer organisations in Karnataka kicked off an agitation claiming the budget had little for them and “nothing” to alleviate their distress from drought.
Members of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) held protests in all 236 drought-hit taluks on Friday even as Siddaramaiah was reading out his budget proposals. Some farmers later gheraoed agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy in Bengaluru.
“Both the Karnataka and central govts are behaving as if there is no drought in the state,” said GC Bayya Reddy, KPRS president. “While the state budget has not even mentioned drought, the Union government has been indifferent to our distress and has not granted drought relief from NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund).”
HR Basavarajappa, KRRS president, said farmer organisations had requested Siddaramaiah to waive crop loans, but there was no mention of it in his budget.
Reddy said all farmers organisations will meet this week and plan agitations in all villages. “This is the right time to put pressure on both parties. They should roll out relief measures before asking for votes from farmers,” said Reddy.
NDRF norms prescribe input subsidy (compensation for crop loss) at Rs 8,500 per hectare in rainfed areas and Rs 17,000 per hectare if the land is irrigated. But droughtaffected farmers are seeking Rs 25,000 per hectare. While the BJP-led central govt has not released funds despite several requests from the state govt — a central inter-ministerial team had also assessed the situation last year — the Congress-led state govt has granted compensation of Rs 2,000 to some 32 lakh distressed farmers.
Both Congress and BJP are trying to turn the scenario into an election issue by blaming each other. Congress has already launched a campaign highlighting the “injustice meted out by the Centre to Karnataka” which will be their main election theme.
“It is the Centre’s duty to grant relief from NDRF,” said Chaluvarayaswamy. “We will do our best to help our farmers. I will request the CM to release the second instalment of relief, but we appeal to farmers to punish BJP.”
On the other hand, BJP functionaries said they will reach out to farmers with the message that the Congress govt has not granted drought relief because it has mishandled the state’s finances and emptied the exchequer.
“While govts in all drought-hit states have granted drought relief without depending on the Centre, the Karnataka government has failed to do so,” said BY Vijayendra, BJP state president.
Vijayendra, who was in Delhi to attend BJP’s national executive meeting, apprised central functionaries of the political scenario in Karnataka. He said central BJP functionaries will begin visiting Karnataka soon. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to visit Bengaluru this week and make a significant announcement.
Taking Efforts To Reduce Graft: CM
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said his govt was taking efforts to reduce, if not eradicate, corruption and that his govt has revised some estimates for projects being executed by contractors. “Who said there is no corruption? We are making efforts to see that corruption is reduced,” he said.
He also criticised the Centre for failing to release funds to Karnataka, especially for drought relief. “Farmers are angry with BJP. We presented two memoranda to Union ministers in the past five months, but we have not got even a rupee till now. Who do we turn to?’’ he asked.