Mahadayi stir ‘moulds’ leaders for taluk polls

Thousands of farmers are involved in Mahadayi agitation which was started in July in four districts of Mumbai-Karnataka. The issue has attracted large number of farmers due to drought conditions in the region. Wide publicity has given both name and fame to several farmers apart from making leaders of many of them. Political parties may attract them to contest in the elections to strengthen the party base in the rural areas. Therefore, farmer leaders are planning to create awareness among agitators to boycott the polls or contest elections independently without taking assistance from political parties.

“We had planned to boycott the elections as Congress, BJP and JD(S) have done nothing to resolve the issue except pass the blame to each other. But, there is confusion among voters on boycotting the polls as all party leaders are also engaged in the movement. It is also very difficult to convince people not to vote in the elections as we have limited numbers. Therefore, we will create awareness on the need to shun the candidates of political parties and field independent candidates for the polls”, said Vikas Soppin, the convenor of Pakshateetha Horata Samiti. Several farmer leaders claim that they are motivating the farmers to contest independently as merely boycotting the polls will not serve any purpose. They feel that political power is indispensable to get the state's share of water and to showcase the strength of farmer organisations in the region.