Senior JD(S) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy criticised BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje for failing to meet the expectation of farmers in providing relief for those affected by floods and landslides.
"The floods in Chikkamagaluru district affected the lives of thousands of farmers. Farmers have committed suicide because they did not receive flood relief. At this time, instead of being with the farmers and filling them with confidence, the MP is missing from the constituency and that shows her lack of concern," HD Kumaraswamy said in a social media post.
ಚಿಕ್ಕಮಗಳೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರವಾಹ ಬಂದು ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳ ಬದುಕು ಡೋಲಾಯಮಾನವಾಗಿದೆ. ನೆರೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಸಿಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ರೈತರು ಆತ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆಗೆ ಶರಣಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಂಸದರು ಅವರೊಂದಿಗಿದ್ದು ಧೈರ್ಯ ತುಂಬುವ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವ ಬದಲು ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಿಂದ ಕಾಲ್ಕಿತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಅವರ 'ರೈತಪರ ಕಾಳಜಿ'ಯನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ!
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) October 7, 2019
Responding to Kumaraswamy's barb, Shobha reportedly said, “Kumaraswamy has demonstrated what he is. If he says that I don’t know the sufferings of farmers then he must be knowing it well because he grew rich by growing potatoes.”
The spat between the two senior leaders is the latest scrap between the BJP and the Opposition over the relief amount released to Karnataka following the devastating floods which occurred in August. Two months after floods hit the state, the Union government released Rs 1200 crore as interim flood relief after repeated appeals and protests by residents and political leaders in the state.
Opposition leaders in Karnataka including former chief ministers Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah criticised BJP leaders and accused them of denying flood relief to farmers in the state.
On October 3, Chandregowda, 53, a farmer from SK Mekal village in Chikkamagaluru, took his life after suffering crop loss during the floods in August and alleging a lack of compensation. His death came after another farmer Channappa Gowda took his life in similar circumstances in September.
Kumaraswamy visited the homes of both farmers and furnished a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the family of Chandregowda and Rs 1 lakh to the family of Channappa Gowda. Floods and landslides affected many parts of Chikkamagaluru district in August.