Taking serious exception to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s remarks against a farm woman who criticised him during the sugarcane growers’ agitation in Belagavi recently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a demonstration at the SVP Circle here on Wednesday. BJP activists also demanded that the Chief Minister tender an apology to the people.
Speaking to media representatives at the agitation site, B.G. Patil, president of the Kalaburagi Urban District unit of the party, said that the Chief Minister’s remarks against the farm woman were an insult to the entire farming community.
“The Chief Minister’s remarks are an insult not just to the farm woman but also the entire women folk and farming community and he should immediately tender an apology to the people,” he said.
Pointing to the instances of sugar mills refusing to take harvested sugarcane, Mr. Patil demanded that the government ensure that the sugar mills continued to operate and accept sugarcane till all the standing crop was harvested.
“We came to know that a few sugar factories are refusing to accept harvested sugarcane and were sending back sugarcane-laden trucks. What will the farmers do with the harvested sugarcane? The Chief Minister should realise the gravity of the problem and ensure that no sugar mill in the State refuses sugarcane,” he said.
Ambaraya Ashtagi, vice-president of the party’s rural district unit, demanded that the government immediately intervene and compel sugar mills to pay all pending dues in the earliest possible time.
“Farmers are already in crisis due to drought. They are in dire need of money now to look after their families. The more delay in paying sugarcane dues the more deepening of their crisis. The Chief Minister should ensure that dues are paid to farmers at scientific rates,” he told The Hindu .
Dattatreya Patil Revoor and Basavaraj Mattimud, MLAs from Gulbarga South and Gulbarga Rural, respectively, Ravi Biradar, party’s district general secretary, Suvarna Hanamantharaya Malaji, Zilla Panchayat president, Rajendra Karekal, district president of party’s Raitha Morcha, and others were present.
