Bengaluru: Taking a dig at "jodetthu" (Darshan Tugudeepa and Yash combine), former Mandya MP L.R. Shivaramegowda wondered where the two famous actors are when the sugarcane farmers in the district are in dire straits. The actors were with Ms Sumalatha Ambareesh till she won the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
He told reporters in Mandya that both Darshan and Yash had promised to visit the district and talk to farmers regularly if they elected "Amma". Ms Sumalatha had also invoked "Swabhimana" among voters and defeated JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of then chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes. But she has become a rare visitor to the district, he said.
Mr Shivaramegowda said the problems of sugarcane growers have doubled and they are looking for government support for remunerative prices for their produce. If the crop is not harvested within 12 months, it has to be destroyed. Two sugar mills in the district – Mysore Sugar Mills and Pandavapura Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane – are in no position to buy the cane for crushing. The issue has to be sorted out at the government level in the presence of the Mandya MP, he said.
“She won the election in the name of Swabhimana and she must now come to the rescue of Mandya farmers, or else they will burn down standing crops in the coming days,” he warned.
But, he said, all his supporters will follow Ms Sumalatha if she launches an agitation in Mandya in support of sugarcane growers.
The star duo, Darshan and Yash, had campaigned for Ms Sumalatha for 15 days which helped her win in the Lok Sabha polls from Mandya as an independent. She defeated Mr Nikhil Kumaraswamy despite the JD(S) forging an alliance with Congress. It is said that the local Congress unit stood behind her to ensure her victory.
