Ashoka Seeks All-Party Meet, Offers to Join CM in Delhi for Flood Relief Efforts
The Opposition leader accused the government of ignoring the ground reality and confining itself to aerial surveys.
Vijayapura: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Saturday suggested convening an all-party meeting to address the crisis caused by heavy rains and floods in North Karnataka, and said the BJP was ready to even accompany Chief Minister to Delhi to press for relief.
Speaking to reporters after touring affected villages in Vijayapura district, Ashoka said, “We are ready to attend an all-party meeting. If he wants to go to Delhi, we will go with him. But farmers must get justice.”
The Opposition leader accused the government of ignoring the ground reality and confining itself to aerial surveys. “For the past two days, BJP leaders have been among the farmers, but the Congress government is only in the sky. No one is coming to the farmers,” he said.
Ashoka claimed that crops on 10–12 lakh hectares in North Karnataka, including 52,000 hectares in Vijayapura district, had been destroyed. “Sugarcane, pigeon pea, and cotton are rotting in stagnant water. If compensation had been paid on time, two farmers would not have committed suicide,” he alleged.
Slamming the government for reducing house damage relief from Rs 5 lakh under the BJP to Rs 1.20 lakh now, he demanded immediate compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre for crop loss and Rs 5 lakh for houses.
