A purported audio clip of heated arguments between Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, New and Renewable Energy Bhagwant Khuba and a farmer from Hedgapur village in Aurad taluk of Bidar district has now gone viral.
The farmer, in the 4.02 minutes audio, is heard seeking from the Union Minister supply of fertilizer, as farmers in the taluk have been facing shortage.
“Do not ask me about fertilizer, you have to enquire with your MLA and the officials of the Agriculture Department. It is not my duty to keep track whether fertilizer stocks have reached each taluk and each farmer. As a Minister, I have allocated adequate stock of fertilizer for the State,” Mr. Khuba replies.
The angry farmer then challenges Mr. Khuba to win the next general elections. “We [farmers] will give you a befitting reply in the elections,” he says. When Mr. Khuba says that he will come to his village, the farmer replies that he too is ready to go anywhere, anytime.
Recently, Mr. Khuba stoked a controversy when he accused media persons of being prejudiced over the fertilizer issue. The Minister, who was in Kalaburagi on Monday to review the District Development and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting, refused to answer the media on the fertilizer stock, demand and supply situation.
