The former Chief Minister and BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa announced in Belagavi on Wednesday that he will tour the State to fight against what he called the failure of the State government to protect the interests of farmers.
Addressing a farmers rally organised by the BJP, he said that the Congress government betrayed the trust of farmers and the general public of the State.
“The Congress government is following the policy of giving from one hand and snatching it away from the other. I want to ask the Chief Minister, is this the way to rule a State?” he said.
“It has not only failed to provide timely relief for crop loss due to drought but it has also betrayed the farmer community by stopping the PM Kisan Samman Scheme. When I was the Chief Minister, I used to add ₹2,000 to the ₹4,000 given by the Union government under the scheme and reach it to farmers,” he said.
“As Chief Minister, I issued orders to ensure free power supply to irrigation pumpsets. But the present government has introduced several conditions to these facilities. They have even gone to the extent of asking farmers to pay for installation of poles and wires to give new connections to pumpsets,” he said.
“We have warned them of an intensified agitation if this continues. Such an anti-farmer government has no moral right to continue in office,” Mr. Yediyurappa said.
“We had set aside huge sums of money for the Kalasa Bandori Nala irrigation schemes. But the present government is not going ahead with them. They have no money for such projects that are important for farmers,” he said.
“We introduced the loan waiver scheme. But the present government is not interested. We will launch an agitation if this is not done,” he said. “I will go to every village in the State and create awareness about it among the people,” he said.
“The Chief Minister has announced that the government will set aside ₹10,000 crore for the welfare of minorities. We have no objection to that. Our only concern is that farmers should have been the first priority of this government. But they are not. We will not keep quiet. We will organise protest rallies across the State,” he said.
“All along, the Congress believed that it can win elections by distributing money and liquor and by the use of muscle power and by dividing people on the basis of caste. But the BJP’s victory in the four State elections has taught it a lesson. Also, no Congress leader can match the stature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I need not say this, even Congressmen agree on this,” he said.
He said that the contractors association State president, who had written to the Prime Minister against alleged corruption in the Bommai government, has also complained against corruption in the Congress government. They are indulging in daylight robbery and the poor are suffering, he said.
He said that he started the Bhagya Lakshmi scheme for payment of monthly subsistence amount for poor widows and destitute women. “All the beneficiaries should go around telling people the truth about this scheme,” he said.
Leaders R. Ashok, K.S. Eshwarappa and State party president B.Y. Vijayendra and others were present.
