From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Mar 18: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is arriving in Shivamogga for the BJP election campaign on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah trained his guns on BJP, Modi and B S Yediyurappa and pointedly asked why farmers of Karnataka must support BJP.

Attacking senior BJP leader Yediyurappa, the chief minister has asked the prime minister how he can ask the farmers and people to vote for BJP and whether his conscience permits him to ask for votes to elect Yediyurappa’s son, B Y Raghavendra, knowing fully well that innocent farmers were killed in police firing when they asked for fertilisers.

The chief minister said he has no problem in welcoming Modi in Shivamogga, the cradle of farmers’ movement, and reminded the prime minister that Yediyurappa had promised to waive farm loans before the assembly elections and had the audacity to tell the farmers, who reminded him of BJP’s promise on farm loan waiver, that his government does not have note printing machines.

When farmers were agitating over fertiliser supplies in Haveri, the Yediyurappa government had taken the lives of innocent farmers by opening fire, he said.

Siddaramaiah asked why the farmers in the State must support BJP when the party had refused to honour the promises in respect of irrigation projects in the State and demanded the release of funds for drought relief and increase the number of man-days under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee scheme from the present 100 to 150 days to prevent migration of farmers in search of jobs due to scarcity conditions.

The chief minister said the BJP in the 2018 election manifesto had promised to waive farm loans up to Rs 1 lac in all nationalised banks in the first cabinet
meeting after the party comes to power. But once in power, the party had betrayed farmers by forgetting its promise to farmers

"Karnataka has been reeling under drought conditions and the government has declared 226 taluks in the State as drought affected six months ago and the government had requested immediate release of Rs 18,177 crore as drought relief as per Central norms. I have written several letters and have personally met you and Home Minister Amit Shah. But not a single naya paise has been released by the Centre. Why this hatred against Karnataka’s farmers?’’ he asked.

The chief minister said the Centre had allocated Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper
Bhadra irrigation project in its budget one year ago but nothing has been released so far. Mahadayi and Mekedatu projects are languishing due to non-cooperation from the Centre. The Modi regime abandoned the state in the Cauvery issue by not framing the distress sharing formula.

Siddaramaiah pointed out that Modi regime had hurriedly passed the three controversial farm loans which in effect handed over the agriculture sector to Adani, Ambani and other capitalists. Over 750 farmers lost their lives due to police atrocities, ill-health and vagaries of monsoon.

‘’Will you guarantee justice to the farming community?’’ asked Siddarmaiah to the prime minister.