The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka has taken exception to the state government boycotting the two-day Global Agricultural Summit of Gujarat state beginning from Monday.
In a release on Monday, the BJP termed the boycott as an "anti-farmer” measure and alleged that the Congress government had come in the way of the state farmers coming to know about the latest innovations and technologies in the agricultural field.
“The state agriculture department should have actively participated in the summit and also taken a delegation of farmers from the state to Gujarat. But it is unfortunate that the Congress government has refused to attend the summit for political reasons,” BJP leaders and legislators C. T. Ravi, Ashwathnarayana and Bhanuprakash said in a joint statement.
Pointing out that the government was sending farmers to China on an agricultural study tour, they wondered why the farmers should not be sent to Gujarat which is part of India.
“Despite the state government’s non co-operation, about 100 farmers from the state have left for Gujarat at their own expenses on Sunday night itself to participate in the summit,” they said, in an obvious reference to a BJP delegation of farmers visiting Gujarat.