Bengaluru: Launching a scathing attack on the ruling Congress party in the state and the BJP led NDA government at the Centre, Janata Dal (S) state unit president, H. D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday demanded that the Siddarmaiah government must release subsidy and the promised arrears of Minimum Support Price (MSP) to all farmers in the state.
In a press note, Mr Kumaraswamy warned that in the event of the state government failing to release arrears, he will take out a padayatra from Dharwad to Belagavi on June 25 which will culminate in a massive farmers’ protest on June 29 in Belagavi.
“I appeal to people from across the state to join this farmers’ movement to expose the state government’s failure to fulfill their promises. As for the Union government, it’s much talked about ‘Make In India’ scheme has flopped and it is encouraging ‘Made In China’ silk to invade our markets,” he said lashing out at both BJP and Congress.
Mr Kumaraswamy charged that both parties have been engaged in dismantling an age-old system established by previous governments to protect the interests of farmers. “The Union government is trying its best to cut farmers’ subsidy while the state government is not bothered about giving quality power to farmers or get the arrears due to them released. Our party’s padayatra is not just meant to placate a section of farmers but to protect the interests of the entire farming community,” he explained.
