Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday came under severe attack from the Opposition parties over the death of a protesting sugar cane farmer in front of Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, even as he aggressively defended his government in and outside the Assembly.
Opposition parties, the BJP and the KJP, demanded that the chief minister should resign from his post. They stalled the proceedings of both the Assembly and the Council and accused the government of “murdering” the farmer.
“Siddaramaiah is a bad omen to the State. The State farmers are in deep trouble ever since he became the chief minister. The farmer would not have committed suicide had the government increased minimum purchase price (MPP) for sugar cane to Rs 3,000 per tonne,” KJP leader B S Yeddyurappa said. The JD(S), the principal opposition party, did not join the BJP and the KJP in their protest. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly H D Kumaraswamy and his party MLAs remained silent.
But all the Opposition parties were one in demanding that the government should give support price of Rs 1,000 per tonne – over and above the MPP of Rs 2,500.
BSY gives up dharna
Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa gave up the indefinite dharna he was staging in the House on Shaadi Bhagya scheme and instead, decided to join the farmers in their agitation. He said he would discontinue his dharna in the Assembly during the night.
CM goes on offensive
Siddaramaiah, too, went on the offensive and spoke on top of his voice.
“You (Yeddyurappa) are responsible for killing two farmers in police firing in Haveri. You and the BJP do not have moral right to speak about farmers. You are politically using the issue,” he charged.
Both the Assembly and the Council were debating the farmers’ issue. The debate was incomplete. Hence, the government had not given its reply, Siddaramiah told a press conference.
Despite decreasing sugar prices, the government fixed Rs 2,500 per tonne as MPP. The decision to give Rs 150 per tonne support price will burden the State exchequer by additional Rs 500 crore.
Siddaramaiah said that the State government will take legal action against factories which refuse to give Rs 2,500 MPP.
