Janata Dal (Secular) leaders, who have been staging a protest in Hassan since September 7, have decided to intensify their agitation from Wednesday. The former Minister and MLA H.D.Revanna has said that the party will lay siege to the Hemavati reservoir at Gorur under the leadership of the party’s national president and the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
“The State government should stop releasing water from the Hemavati reservoir immediately and also announce compensation for farmers staring at a crop loss,” he said in a press conference here.
The State government had ignored the plight of farmers in Hassan, he said, adding that the government was releasing the maximum amount of water from the reservoir.
“The Congress government is trying to target Hassan where our party has five MLAs. We will intensify the protest and the downfall of the Congress government will begin from Hassan,” he said.
Coming down heavily on the State government for the police firing in Bengaluru, where one person died, Mr. Revanna said, “This cruel government opens fire at people demanding water. The district administration will have to take the responsibility if there are any untoward incidents in the district,” he said. Stating that the District in-charge Minister A. Manju had not bothered to respond to the farmers’ plight in the district, Mr. Revanna said the Minister was missing. The police has to search for him, he added.
MLAs C.N. Balakrishna, H.K. Kumaraswamy, the former MLC Patel Shivaram and others were present.
