BJP instigating sugarcane farmer protests in Karnataka: CM Kumaraswamy

Speaking after a state cabinet meeting at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday, Kumaraswamy said, "People pretending to be sugarcane farmers are protesting but the government has given them the space to peacefully protest. I don't understand what they are protesting for. There has been no negligence from any government official and we have already taken steps to appease many of the demands they have stated," he said.

 

Kumaraswamy also confirmed that he has convened a meeting of farmer leaders, sugar mill owners and other stakeholders at the Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday to resolve the situation. 

 

He also pointed out that the arrears of sugarcane growers in the state had come down from nearly Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 35.62 crore, and that the state government was working towards ensuring that arrears were paid to all sugarcane growers in the state.

 

He also hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments on the Karnataka government harassing its farmers by issuing arrest warrants against them for not repaying farm loans. Speaking at a rally in Chhattisgarh, PM Narendra Modi had claimed that the Karnataka government was making false promises to its farmers. "The promise (of loan waiver) was made to farmers during the Karnataka polls, but even after around a year has passed, the promise is yet to be fulfilled. Instead, the (Karnataka) government is issuing warrants and arresting farmers against whom debts are pending", he had said. 

 

CM Kumaraswamy responded to the statement by criticising the Prime Minister for 'misleading the country.' "I am surprised to see the comments made by our Prime Minister that the Karnataka government has issued warrants against farmers instead of waiving loans. I would like to point out that our government has waived loans of farmers but the warrants have been issued by the institutions controlled by the central government.The central government has given instructions to nationalised banks to issue the warrants and the Prime Minister is misleading the country with the comments he has made," Kumaraswamy said. 

 

A Rs 45,000 crore partial loan waiver scheme introduced by the state government in August is yet to be implemented in the state. Kumaraswamy added that discussions  have been held with 21 nationalised banks and that the loan waiver will be implemented before the 2019 state budget session.