Bengaluru, Jul 6 (IANS): Commenting on the stopping of sale of Bharat rice at an MRP of Rs 29 per kilo by the Centre to the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated on Saturday that an agitation would be launched against it.

Speaking to reporters after participating in the function to mark the death anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram at the Vidhana Soudha, he stated, “We will have to start an agitation against stopping of Bharat rice by the central government. If they are unable to provide rice even as they have the stocks of rice, it is because of political ill-will.”

The Bharat rice was introduced for the purpose of election and they have stopped it once the elections are over, CM Siddaramaiah alleged.

“The central government is doing this to bring a bad name to our government. If there are no stocks of rice it is understandable, in this case, they have the rice but are not providing it. “When we approached the central government for rice to be given under the free rice programme ‘Anna Bhagya’, they refused to provide rice, even as they have enough stocks at the Food Corporation of India,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.

“It is very evident that the central government is not with the Dalits, poor and backwards. There are poor people among all castes, they refused to provide rice when the state government wanted to give rice to those poor sections of society,” CM Siddaramaiah reiterated.

“We were then forced to purchase rice. The central government has intentionally not provided rice to Karnataka,” he stated.