Hundreds of dairy farmers took part in a march taken out under the aegis of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to the Kerala-Karnataka border on Tuesday in protest against a ban imposed by the Karnataka government on transportation of fodder, including green maize forage, to Kerala.
Addressing the march, LDF convener E.P. Jayarajan said that the stance of the Karnataka government in imposing the ban on the transportation of fodder to Kerala was anti-farmer.
Mr. Jayarajan said the Congress government issued such a ban to protect the vested interests of some corporate companies to promote the sale of their cattle feed in the State market. It would affect both the dairy farmers in the State and the maize farmers in Karnataka, Mr. Jayarajan said.
He alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, MP, was yet to make any moves to resolve the issue. He said LDF leaders should visit Bengaluru and submit a memorandum to the Minister concerned to make the authorities understand the gravity of the issue.
Two issues
The night-traffic ban on Karnataka’s part of the Kozhikode-Kollagel National Highway 766 and the ban on transportation of fodder affected the people of the State badly and Mr. Gandhi should intervene immediately to solve the issues. But he had failed to address the issue, he said.
Speaking to media persons, Mr. Jayarajan said a corporate, fascist government was ruling the country and a collective of Opposition parties alone could resist its growth. However, the Congress was yet to adopt any effective steps to resist the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he said. The candidature of Mr. Gandhi in the Wayanad constituency was not a subject of the LDF, he said.
