Karnataka: Siddaramaiah slams govt for failing to extend MSP to sugarcane farmers

MANDYA/ MYSURU: Lashing out at chief minister Basavaraj Bommai for failing to deliver on his promise of ensuring a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,500/tonne of sugarcane, former CM and leader of opposition in the assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday pointed out that he had extended the MSP to cultivators of the water-intensive crop. Accompanied by former minister and Congress colleague, Siddaramaiah called on the protesting sugarcane farmers holding an indefinite dharna demanding payment of MSP for their crop.
Siddaramaiah charged Bommai, and his cabinet colleagues, of making false promises to the farmers. He questioned the failure on the part of the state government to take a decision in favour of the farmers. He pointed out that the capital required for agriculture had increased recently, including the price of fertilisers, and fixing Rs 3,000 as the MSP for sugarcane would leave the farmers reeling under loss.
Address problems in your segment first, Ramadas tells Sait
Days after senior Congress leader and Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait unveiled his plan to construct a 100-foot-tall statue of former Mysuru king Tipu Sultan in Mysuru or Srirangapatna, Krishnaraja BJP MLA and former minister SA Ramadas called on Sait to look into the problems of his constituency before making plans for a statue.
“Sait must think about the welfare of his constituents. The construction of a Tipu Sultan statue will not help improve the lot of the people in Narasimharaja segment. To build such a statue is unlikely to yield political dividends either,” said Ramadas, who said that former CM Siddaramaiah’s decision to contest the next year’s assembly elections from Kolar was his choice.